HISTORY OF CALrFOIlNI-\. 



355 



BRA2sT GOOSE. 



The most ridiculous fables have been invented con- 

 cerning the origin of this bird, which was long be- 

 lieved to be the produce of a kind of shells, hence 

 called conchoe anatiferoe^ found on certain trees on the 

 coast of Scotland and the Orkneys, or on the rotten 

 timber of decayed ^^hips. Abundance of authority 

 for this absurd fiction may be found in the old books 

 of natural history. 



The White Pelican [PeUcayius Onocrotalus), is 

 sometimes seen on various parts of the coast. This 

 bird is as large as a swan, measuring, when fully 

 grown, from five to six feet from the point of its bill 

 to the tip of its tail. Its bill, which stretches to six- 

 teen or eighteen inclies, and two or three in breadth, 

 forms the distinnruisliin;: sinfrularity of this bird. The 

 upper mandible is quite fiat, with a small red hook at 

 the point ; the under consists of two pieces united at 



