249 



PELECANID^E. 



PELECANID.E. 



250 



on the Danube ; rare and accidental on the sea-coast. An adult 

 specimen, sent to M. Temminck, who gives the above habitats, from 

 Egypt, and another from the Cape of Good Hope, differed in nothing 

 from those of Europe, except in their greater dimensions. That the 

 species exists in Asia there is no doubt. Belon, who refers to Leviticus 

 (xi. 1 8), where the bird is noted as unclean, says that it is frequent 

 on the lakes of Egypt and Judaea. When he was passing the plain of 

 Roma, which is only half a day's journey from Jerusalem, he saw 

 them flying in pairs like swans above his head, rather low; and adds 

 that they are seen flying in a large flock like those birds. Hasselquist 

 saw it at Damietta in Egypt. He also adds that it comes to Egypt in 

 the middle of September, in his chapter on the arrival there of 

 migrating birds. "In flying," says Hasselquist, "they form an acute 

 angle, like the common wild geese when they migrate. In the summer 

 they inhabit the Black Sta and coasts of Greece ; and in their 

 migration remain for a few days near Smyrna and other parts of the 

 coasts of Natolia, but never stray far from the continent : they fly 

 very high. Some of them remain at Damietta, and in the islands of 

 the delta in the Mediterranean, but the greater part go to Egypt." 

 They appear in some of the Egyptian drawings. (Rossellini.) 



Common European Pelican (Pclecaniu Onocrotaltu}. 



Dr. Von Siebold and M. Burger saw it in Japan, and their observa- 

 tion is confirmed by M. Temminck. Mr. Gould states that though 

 the tropical climates of Africa and India constitute its natural habitat, 

 nevertheless the eastern rivers of Europe, such as the Danube and 

 Volga, the extensive lakes of Hungary and Russia, and the shores of 

 the Mediterranean, are places where it dwells in abundance. The 

 same author says that it is a species strictly confined to the Old World, 

 over a great part of which it is distributed. Prince Bonaparte quotes 

 it as being rare and adventitious at Philadelphia and Rome. Sir John 

 Richardson quotes it, or rather a variety of it, killed on the Missis- 

 sippi, 56 N. lat. 



In the 'Proceedings of the Zoological Society' for 1835, is an 

 account of the dissection of a Pelican by Professor Owen, and the 

 dissection of a male of the same species, by Mr. Marten, is given 

 in the same volume. 



Phalacrocorax (Brisson). Bill moderate or long, straight, com- 

 pressed ; upper mandible very much curved towards the point, and 

 booked; lower mandible compressed; base inserted in a small mem- 

 brane, which extends under the throat. Sides of the face and throat 

 naked. Nostrils basal, linear, hidden. Feet strong, short ; three toes 

 before, the hind-toe articulated interiorly, all united by a membrane ; 

 nail of the middle toe serrated. Wings moderate, the first quill 

 longer than the second, which is longest. 



This is the genus Ifalieui of Illiger, Carlo of Meyer, and Hydro- 

 corax of Vieillot. 



Mr. Yarrell, who observes ('Zool. Journ.,' vol. iv.) that most of 

 those authors who have written on the comparative anatomy of birds 

 agree in describing an additional bone as peculiar to the back part of 

 the bead of the Cormorant, or Corvorant, as he writes it (Pelecania 

 C'arbo), adds that the muscles attached to this bone, and the services 

 they are destined to render the animal, have been either overlooked 

 or misconceived. He describes the additional bone as about one inch 

 in length, triangular in shape, somewhat grooved on its surfaces, and 

 from its articulation with the occiput, tapering gradually to a point. 

 The mode by which this bone is articulated to the occiput is con- 

 sidered by Mr. Yarrell to be similar to that observed in the ribs of 

 serpents, in which the condvle is situated upon each vertebra, and the 

 cavity is at the end of the rib : so in the Cormorant, the condyle is 

 upon the occipital bone, the cavity at the triangular end of the 



xiphoid bone ; the joint is therefore hemispherical, admitting great 

 extent of motion. Mr. Yarrell then notices the great length of the 

 os quadratum (c) from above downwards, in this and other birds 

 which feed on fishes. The articulation of this bone, he observes, 

 both with the cranium itself, as well as with the lower mandible, 

 admits great latitude of motion. It moves with facility backwards, 

 forwards, outwards, and iuwards, by the action of the numerous 

 muscles attached to it, thus increasing the capacity of the pharynx 

 for the more easy passage of any unusually large fish. The rami of 

 the lower mandibles are comparatively slender, weak, and elastic, and 

 hence the value of the additional pair of muscles described by 

 Mr. Yarrell, muscles which are not, he states, possessed by any of the 

 species of Colymbus, Alca, Uria, and Larus, all of which have the 

 rami of the lower mandibles much deeper and thicker in proportion. 



The xiphoid or sword-shaped bone is described by Mr. Yarrell as 

 having three surfaces, each slightly concave, forming together an 

 isosceles triangle, the base of which is downwards. 



I. 



1, Cranium of Cormorant, reduced in 8i/.e. a, the occipital crest; fc, the 

 xiphoid bone ; e, the 09 quadratum. 



2, Cranium of Cormorant, with the muscles moving the lower mandible. 

 a and 4, muscles answering to the masseter and temporal ; c, the muscle arising 

 from the xiphoid bone. 



The xiphoid bone exists in the other European species of Phalacro- 

 corax, and probably in the whole of that genus ; but it is absent in 

 the true Pelicans, and, we believe, in the Frigate Bird and Plotus. 

 The recorded species are not numerous ; five are noted as European. 



P. Carbo, the Common Cormorant. (Old.) Under the throat a large 

 white or whitish collar, the upper extremities of which reach to just 

 below the eyes. Summit of the head, neck, breast, all the lower parts 

 and the rump, lustrous greenish-black; on the neck small whitish 

 traits, which are nearly imperceptible ; feathers of the upper part of 

 the back and wings ashy-brown, or bronzed in the middle, bordered 

 by a large band of glossy greenish-black ; quills and tail-feathers black ; 

 bill blackish-ash ; naked region of the eyes greenish-yellow ; small 

 guttural pouch yellowish ; iris green ; feet black. Length 27 to 29 

 inches (both sexes winter plumage. Temm.). 



M. Temminck remarks that individuals in this state of plumage have 

 been most frequently dese^bed as females of this species. 



Spring or Nuptial Plumage. On the occiput and a part of the nape 

 are long feathers, which form a crest of deep lustrous green ; the 

 large collar on the throat is pure white ; on the summit of the head, 

 on a great part of the neck, and on the thighs, appear very long, loose, 

 and silky feathers of a pure white. These plumes are more or less 

 long, according to the age of the individual. Rest of the plumage as 

 in winter. (Temm.) 



Young of the Year. Summit of the head, nape, and back, deep 

 brown, with slight green reflections ; the large collar whitish-gray ; 

 front of the neck and all the lower parts gray-brown, varied with 

 whitish, particularly on the breast and the middle of the belly, where 

 these spots are numerous ; feathers of the upper part of the back, 

 scapulars, and coverts of the wings, gray-ash in the middle, bordered 

 by a band of deep brown ; bill bright brown ; iris brown. It is not 

 till the age of one year that tho young assume the perfect winter 

 livery. 



The Cormorants on the south coasts of England are very large. 

 Pennant relates that he weighed a bird of this species that exceeded 

 seven pounds ; the length was 3 feet 4 inches : the extent 4 feet 2 

 inches. 



There is little or no doubt that this is the K(fpo| of Aristotle 

 (' Hist. Auim.,' viiL 3), whose description of the bird and of its habits 

 agrees well with that now before us. It is the Corvo Marino, Corvo 

 Aquatico, Marangone, Merangone, and Mergone, of the Italians ; Cor- 

 morant (Belon) and Cormoran ot the French ; Soharbe and See-Rabe 



