26 PELECANHXE PELECANUS 



Iris deep hazel red ; bare skin of the face purplish- white ; base 

 of the upper and lower mandibles pale purplish-white, the midrib 

 paler at the base, darker in the middle, shading to greyish-pink at 

 the nail, sides of the upper inaudible pale gamboge yellow with 

 streaks of light red radiating from the edge, which is uniform bright 

 red; terminal half of the lower mandible pale greyish - yellow ; 

 pouch gamboge yellow; legs pale pinkish straw-yellow; webs 

 greyish-yellow. 



Length 67'0 ; wing 27'5 ; tail 8'0 ; culmen 16'5 ; tarsus 4-5. 

 The female has a much longer occipital crest measuring four or five 

 inches and is smaller than the male, length about 59'0; wing 26 ; 

 culmen 13'0. 



The nestling is covered with brown down throughout ; the bill, 

 pouch and naked skin are darker brown and the legs bluish pink. 



Distribution. This Pelican, closely allied to the true White 

 Pelican (P. onocrotalus) found in Southern Europe, from which it 

 only differs in its smaller size, shorter bill and tail composed of 

 twenty-two instead of twenty-four feathers, is found in Southern 

 Asia as far as the Philippine Islands, in Africa and occasionally in 

 South-east Europe. 



In South Africa this Pelican is chiefly found along the coast ; it 

 has also been met with in the Lake Ngami region in Bechuanaland, 

 and on the lower Zambesi, but not, so far as I am aware, at other 

 places in the interior. 



The following are recorded localities : Walvisch Bay and Sand- 

 wich Harbour (Andersson) ; Lake Ngami, August (Fleck) ; Botletli 

 River (Bryden) ; Salt Eiver near Cape Town (S. A. Mus.) ; Quoin 

 Rock near Quoin Point in Caledon district, breeding December 

 and January ( W. L. Sclater) ; Zoetendal vlei (Layard) ; Knysna 

 (Victorin) ; St. Lucia Lake in Zululand (Woodward) ; lower 

 Zambesi (Alexander). 



Habits. The best account of the habits of the Pelican in South 

 Africa is that given by Bryden, who met with these birds in con- 

 siderable numbers on the Botletli River. He found that they 

 roosted among the reeds at night, and after fishing for their morning 

 meal betook themselves with wonderful aerial evolutions to a 

 neighbouring salt-pan, where they remained during the day, returning 

 to the river-bed towards evening. 



Pelicans are found along the sea coasts, and in the interior only 

 along the larger rivers and in marshes where there is a plentiful 

 supply of fish, on which they feed exclusively ; they fly well with 



