FAMILY SULID^E 



two or three together, scooping down with their 

 bill and, if they catch a fish, throwing up their 

 bill and contorting their throat to swallow it. 

 Like the cormorants, the pelicans fly in lines 

 and V formations very perfectly maintained. 

 Sometimes they associate with their less aristo- 

 cratic allies, and a flock of cormorants may be 

 seen headed by one or more pelicans, whose dig- 

 nity will not permit them to accept any other 

 position in the formation, though they have to 

 exert themselves to maintain it in such fast 

 company. 



23. Family SULID^E 

 The Boobies and Gannets 



A small family of sea birds related to the 

 pelicans and like them in having f eef with all 

 four toes connected by a web, but they have 

 only a rudiment of a pouch beneath the bill 

 which is long, stout at the base and tapering, 

 but not hooked at the tip. They are birds 

 of trim, somewhat gull-like build and of 

 fairly large size, with very long pointed wings 

 which give them great powers of flight and 

 they spend most of their time ranging over 

 the sea, catching the fish on which they feed, 

 by plunging for them. They nest in large 

 colonies on cliffs or outlying islands, usually 

 on the ground (rarely in trees or bushes) and 

 generally lay but one egg. 

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