PELICANS 447 



uncommon. From Europe the range of the species spreads over the corresponding 



latitudes of Asia and North America. The species is feathered down to the toes, 



has brown wings streaked with black, and a brown tail, mottled with dark grejr, 



and blackish at the tip ; unlike the imperial eagle, there is no white patch on 



the scapulars. The length of the golden eagle varies from 32 to 36 inches, the 



spread of the wings being 6 feet or more ; the female is somewhat larger, and 



less brightly coloured than the male. 



Pelicans are at once distinguishable by their lon°- straight 

 Pelicans. J o o 



beak, with the flat upper half hooked at the tip, and the lower 



half furnished with a dilatable pouch. The white or roseate species (Pele- 

 canus onocrotalus) is an inhabitant of shallow bays, large inland-lakes, wide 

 estuaries and deep swamps. Rare in Italy, it is more common in southern 

 Hungary, Turkey, Greece, and the Delta of the Danube, where there is a 

 large nesting-colony on floating islands. Thence its range extends through 

 the Crimea to southern Asia, and through western Arabia to Africa. Pelicans 

 in thousands may be seen on the lakes near the coast of Egypt, on the Nile, 

 and on the Red Sea. From this district they arrive in Hungary in flocks 

 of from four hundred to six hundred at the end of April or beginning of 

 May, and at once disperse to their breeding-colonies on different waters. 

 The nest, generally placed among tall reeds, is a flat structure, composed of 

 reeds, flags, water-plants, and dry grass, and containing two or three bluish 

 wdiite eggs, covered with a chalky crust, from which the naked young are hatched 

 in about five weeks. The latter, which are soon covered with white and grey 

 down, are somewhat owl-like in appearance, and very noisy. They feed on fish ; 

 and so long as they are nestlings obtain their food from the pouches of the old 

 birds, the female opening her beak and pressing the lower half against her breast 

 in order that the young can reach the fish more easily. Although fish is their 

 chief food, pelicans also eat young ducks and small crabs, probably when fish is 

 scarce. As a rule, these birds fish in parties and literally beat the water, station- 

 ing themselves at equal distances from each other, and swimming along in a 

 curved line, splashing with their wings and driving the frightened fishes together as 

 the horns of the curve approach each other. As only one species of pelican 

 (P. brachyrhynchus) dives, the others are restricted to shallow water, the bottom 

 of which they reach with their necks and beaks. The skeleton is remarkable for 

 the extent of its air-cavities, and the bird is much more active than its bulk would 

 indicate. When rising, a pelican beats the water with its wings, gives a few rapid 

 strokes and soon settles into a steady, powerful flight with the neck resting on 

 the back and the beak on the throat. Occasionally these birds hover like storks, 

 or soar in a wide spiral to a great height, aud descend in wider sweeps ; but some- 

 times the whole flock suddenly swoop on a shoal of fish. Where much pursued 

 by man, pelicans are wary and difficult of approach, but elsewhere, as in harbours, 

 where they swim up to ships to be fed, they are quite fearless. They are soon 

 tamed, and in this state defend themselves with their beaks against children and 

 dogs, without doing serious damage. In the villages on the Egyptian lakes 

 pelicans visit the fish-market, stand beside the customer, and beg until food is 

 given to them ; others starting out in the morning to find their own food, and 



