TOTIPALMATE SWIMMERS 



PELICANS. Family PELECANID^E 



Pelicans are large, short legged, web footed (all four toes joined by a web) 

 birds, the most noticeable feature of which is the long bill with its enormous 

 pouch suspended from lower mandible. This pouch, while normally contracted, 

 is capable of being distended to hold several quarts. It is used as a scoop in 

 which to catch small fish. Their skin is filled with numerous air cells, making 

 them very light and buoyant. 



125. AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN. Pelecanus erythrorhynchos. 



Range. Temperate North America, breeding in the interior, from Utah and 

 the Dakotas northward. These large birds, reaching a length of five feet, are 

 entirely white except for the black primaries. They get their food by approach- 

 ing a school of small fish and, suddenly dipping their head beneath the sur- 

 face, sometimes scoop up a large number of fish at a time; after allowing the 

 water to run out of the sides of the mouth, they proceed to swallow their catch. 

 They nest in large communities on islands in some of the inland lakes. 



Great Salt Lake, Utah, and Shoal Lake, Manitoba, furnish breeding ground 

 for many thousands of Pelicans. They build their simple nests on the ground, 

 making them of sticks and weeds. They generally lay two eggs, but often 

 three or four. Size 3.45 x 2.30. Data. Egg Island, Great Salt Lake, June 19, 

 1884. Two eggs. Nest a slight hollow in the ground, surrounded by a few 

 sticks. Collector, F. F. Leonard. 



Chalky white 



83 



