PELECANUS. 333 



, each separated from the median bar by a very narrow but distinct 

 groove, in the basal part of which the small nostril opens. Lower 

 , mandible thin, of two flexible arches supporting a large pouch of 

 naked membrane. Sides of head, including the eyes, without 

 feat hers. Wings ample ; tail short ; tarsus compressed, reticulate 

 in front. 



Pelicans are found in all the warmer regions of the world. 

 Four species occur in India. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Feathers of forehead terminate in a point. 

 a'. Tail-feathers 22 : bill from gape in female 



10-12, in male 14-16 in P. rosem, p. 333. 



V. Tail-feathers 24: bill in both sexes 17- 



18 in P. onocrotalus, p. 334. 



b. Feathers of forehead end in front in a trans- 



verse concave line ; 22 rectrices. 



c'. Wing- 25-20 ; hill from <rape 14-18 in. . . P. crispus, p. 335. 

 d 1 . Wing 22-24 ; bill 13-14 in P. philippensis, p. 335. 



The habits of all Pelicans, so far as is "known, are similar. These 

 birds are found on marshes, rivers, backwaters, or the sea, some- 

 times singly or in small numbers, but often in large flocks. They 

 fly well, with the neck bent and the head close to the shoulders, 

 and often ascend to great heights in the air. They walk badly, 

 and are seldom seen on land ; they swim well and strongly, but 

 they never dive. They live on fish, and when in flocks often 

 capture their prey by forming in single, double, or even triple 

 lines across a piece of water, and driving the fish before them by 

 beating the water with their wings. When the fish are driven 

 into shallow water, the Pelicans scoop them up into their pouches. 



The following are some of ihe Indian names for Pelicans : 

 Hawasil, Guyun bher, Gany yoya, Penr, Jalasind, H. ; Bellua, Birua 

 or Bherua, Behar ; Gara-polo or Gora-pallo, Beng. ; Chinka-batu, 

 Tel. ; Madde-pora, Tain. ; Kulukedai, Ceylonese Tamils ; Kula 

 Kidar, Singh. Sdchawct (P. ruseus), Woon-boh (P. philippensis), 

 Burm. 



1520. Pelecanus roseus. The Eastern White Pelican. 



Pelecanus roseus, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i, p. 570 (1788) ; Walden, Tr. Z. S. 



ix, p. 245 ; Oates, B. B. ii, p. 239. 

 Pelecanus javanicus, Horsf. Tr. Linn. Soc. xiii, p. 197 (1821); 



Blyth, Cat. p. 297 ; id. J. A. S. B. xviii, p. 821 ; Jerdon, B. I. iii, 



p. 857 ; Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 179 ; Hume $ Dav. S. F. vi, p. 494 ; 



Cripps, S. F. vii, p. 314 ; Hume, Cat. no. 1003 ; Reid, S. F. x, 



p. 87 ; Hume, ibid. p. 496 ; Barnes, Birch Bom. p. 437 ; Hume, 



S. F. xi, p. 351. 

 Pelecanus mitratus, apud Jerdon, B. I. iii, p. 856, pt. ; Sclater, 



P. Z. S. 1868, p. 266, tier. 3 ; nee Licht. 

 Pelecanus minor, apud Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 180; Elliot, P. Z. S. 



1869, p. 580 ; Oates, S. F. x, p. 247 ; nee Riipp. 

 Pelecanus onocrotalus, apud Jerdon, B. I. iii, p. 854 ; Hume, S. F. i, 



