506 THE PELICAN. 



and back the colour is a light blue; the breast and long 

 neck are white; towards the head it is green, mixed with 

 black, and on the top there is a red comb ; the tail and 

 wings are both distinguished by some white feathers at the 

 ends, and are large in proportion to the body ; when the 

 wings are spread from the end of one to the other, they 

 measure six feet. This bird is eatable either roasted or salted. 

 The Scots call it Gentelman ; it is a bird of passage, or of 

 the wandering, unsettled sort. It is not seen in this country 

 before the latter end of January, or beginning of February, 

 when the herring-fishing begins, and then it serves for a sign 

 to give notice of the season. They do not come nearer 

 land than within half-a-mile (Norwegian) ; thus the farmer 

 observes when the fish seek the narrow and shallow waters. 

 At Easter these birds are not seen any more, therefore I 

 cannot say much about their breeding. They are so stupid, 

 that by laying a few herrings upon a floating board, they may 

 be enticed to the boat, and killed with the oar." 



The Pelican (Pelikan, Sw. ; Pelecanus Onocrotalus, 

 Temm.) whose proper home is South-eastern Europe, more 

 especially the countries bordering on the Caspian Sea is a 

 recent addition to the Scandinavian fauna; one of these 

 birds having been shot on the 8th of June, 1850, in the 

 province of Dalecarlia, the head and feet of which are now 

 preserved in the museum at Stockholm. It was an old and 

 remarkably large male. According to the " Provinzialberichte 

 fur Schleswig und Holstein," 1798, this bird has also been 

 killed at Frederiksstad in Schleswig. 



The Caspian Tern (Skran-Tarna, or Screaming Tern, 

 Sw. ; Sterna Caspia, Pall.). This, the largest of all the 

 European terns, though shot occasionally, was scarce with 



