THE EASTERN WHITE PELICAN. 239 



at all ages is spotless. Judging also from specimens which I examined 

 in the Paris, Strasburg, and Leyden museums, the adults seem to have 

 the vinous or rufous back and rump throughout the year, not at the 

 breeding-season only as P. manillensis has. 



The Spotted-billed Pelican is a constant resident in Burmah, but is 

 more abundant from October to February than at other times. It breeds 

 in vast numbers in the tract of country lying to the west of the Sittang 

 river and just north of Paghein. The breeding-season commences at the 

 end of October. The nest is a large structure made of sticks and placed 

 in a very high tree near the top, and from three to twenty pairs of Pelicans 

 make their nests on the same tree. The eggs, three in number, are white 

 and very chalky in texture. 



Pelicans generally congregate in immense flocks, swim well, and live 

 entirely on fish. They cannot dive ; and their mode of catching fish is to 

 range themselves in a double or even a treble line and beat the water 

 with their wings. Progressing forward at the same time, they drive the 

 fish towards the banks where the water is shallow and then scoop them up 

 into their pouches. They fly exceedingly well, and after the morning 

 feed is over they mount high into the air and circle round at a vast height 

 for some hours together. They frequently perch on trees; but they are 

 incapable of walking far. 



The two Pelicans that occur in Burmah may be discriminated at a 

 glance by the formation of the feathered portion of the forehead : in P. 

 manillensis the frontal feathers terminate in a concave line ; in P. roseus 

 the frontal feathers come to a sharp point. 



607. PELECANUS ROSEUS. 

 THE EASTERN WHITE PELICAN. 



Pelecanus roseus, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 570. Pelecanus javanicus, Horsf. 

 Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 197 ; Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 857 ; Sclater, P. Z. S. 1868, 

 p. 268; Elliot, P. Z. S. 1809, p. 581 ; Salmd. Ucc. Born. p. 363; El. B. Burm. 

 p. 164; Hume fy Dav. S. F. vi. p. 494;- JZwme, S. F. viii. p. 116. Pelecanus 

 mitratus, Licht. Abhandl. Akad. Wiss. Berl. 1838, p. 436, t. iii. f. 2 j Jerd. B. Ind. 

 ii. p. 856 ; David et Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 531 ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 116. Pele- 

 canus onocrotalus, apud Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 854; Hume, S. F. viii. p. lie.. 

 Pelecanus minor, apud Gates, S. F. x. p. 247. 



Description. Bird of the year. Crest not more than half an inch long, 

 composed of soft loose feathers ; a line of feathers down the hind neck of 

 the same character; head and neck tinged chestnut; the whole lower 

 plumage deep chestnut ; upper plumage dingy white, the centres of the 



