184 PELICANS 



majestically in broad circles, evidently for mere pleasure in the evolu- 

 tion. They feed on fish, for which some species plunge from the air, 

 while others capture small fry with their scooplike pouches while 

 swimming. The young are born naked, but are shortly covered 

 with white down which is followed by the plumage of flight. They 

 procure their food of fish by plunging their heads far down the 

 parental pouch. 



125. Pelecanus erythrorhynchos Gmel. WHITE PELICAN. Ads. in 

 nuptial plumage. White, more or less straw-color on breast and wing-coverts; 

 wing-quills chiefly black; occipital crest white or straw-color; a -horny 

 prominence on the culmen. Post-nuptial plumage. Similar, but occiput 

 of short gray feathers, no horny ridge on bill. Ads. in winter. Similar, but 

 occiput white. Ira. Similar, but lesser wing-coverts and top of the head 

 brownish gray. L., GO'OO; W., 22'00; Tar., 4'50; B., 14'00. 



Range. Temperate N. Am. Breeds from s. B. C., Great Slave Lake, 

 and sw. Keewatin to Man. (formerly s. Minn, and S. D.), Utah and 

 s. Calif.; winters from s. Calif., the Gulf States, Fla., and Cuba s. to w. 

 Mex., and Costa Rica; casual e. in migration to the Atlantic coast, n. to 

 New Brunswick. 



Washington, casual, four records. Long Island, two records. N. Ohio, 

 casual T. V. 



Nest, in colonies, on the ground, a depression in a mound of pebbles, or 

 of grasses, sticks or reeds. Eggs, 2-4, creamy cr bluish white with a chalky 

 deposit, more or less stained, 3'45 x 2*30. Date, Big Stick Lake, Sask., 

 June 10, eggs hatching. 



During the summer the White Pelican frequents only fresh water; 

 in winter it lives chiefly on salt water. At this season it is not uncom- 

 mon locally on the Gulf coast of Florida, and a few are usually seen 

 each winter on the Mosquito Lagoon of the east coast. With a wing 

 expanse of between eight and nine feet, and a weight of sixteen pounds, 

 the White Pelican is one of the largest of American birds. Its snowy 

 plumage rentiers it conspicuous at a great distance and a far-away 

 Pelican may be mistaken for a sail. This species migrates by day. 

 In mid-March I have seen flocks containing thousands of birds passing 

 northward along the eastern face of the Sierras of Vcra Cruz. Although 

 they progressed in wheeling circles, they moved on their course very 

 rapidly. The habit of soaring, or sailing, is also common in the 

 nesting season when the birds practically go up beyond the reach 

 of vision. 



The White Pelican does not dive but catches its food while swim- 

 ming. 



1908. CHAPMAN, F. M., Camps and Cruises, 366-388 (biographical). 



126. Pelecanus occidentals Linn. BROWN PELICAN. Ads. in breed- 

 ing plumage. Top of head white, sometimes straw-yellow like a spot on 

 upper breast; line down either side of breast white; hindhead, neck arid a 

 spot on foreneck seal-brown; sides and back silvery gray bordered by 

 brownish black; scapulars, wing-coverts, secondaries, arid tail silvery gray; 

 primaries black; underparts dark blackish brown narrowly streaked with 

 white. Ads. after the breeding season. Similar, but with hindhead and 

 whole neck white, more or less tinged with straw-yellow, I in, Above grayish 



