74 REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 







126 Pelecanus occidentalis (Linnaeus). 

 Brown Pelican. 



PLATE 7. 



Adults. Length, 50-54. Wing, 19-21. Chocolate-brown below with long 

 silvery-gray feathers covering the upper parts, with a chestnut patch on the 

 fore part of the back and a chestnut stripe on the occiput ; head, straw-yellow, 

 with a white stripe down the side of the neck and a straw-yellow patch on the 

 breast. After the breeding season the whole head is white, tinged with yellow. 



Young in first year. Similar, but duller, and head tinged with gray. 



Rare straggler from the South. 



Turnbull records one specimen shot off Sandy Hook in 1837 in 

 summer, and Mr. W. H. Werner tells me that one was shot at Vent- 

 nor and brought to him in May, 1902. 1 Another was wounded and 

 captured by Mr. Walter Lay ton, at Townsend's Inlet, May 5th. 1909. 



Order ANSERES. 



Lamellirostral Swimmers. 

 Family ANATID^E. 



THE DUCKS AND GEESE. 



The striking peculiarity of the birds of this family is the curious flat 

 bill with rows of fine narrow plates on either side, like the teeth of a 

 comb, which act as strainers, holding the food while the water drains 

 off. 



The Mergansers (Mergince) have a much narrower bill, recalling 

 that of the Cormorant, and like it, they feed upon fish which they 

 catch while under the water. (P. 78.) 



The River Ducks (Anatince) feed usually in shallow water, where 

 they can reach bottom by simply "tilting up." Small aquatic animals 

 and plants constitute their food. (P. 79.) 



The Sea Ducks (Fuligulince) feed on the same materials, but dive 

 for them. They may be distinguished from the former group by 



1 Referred to by S. R. Morse, N. J. State Mus. Rept, 1903, p. 56. 



