50 BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



36. 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. Im. Similar, but lesser wing-coverts and top 

 of the head brownish gray. L., 60.00; W., 22.00; Tar., 4.50; B., 14.00. (Chap., Birds of 

 E. N. A.) 



-Range. Temperate North America, breeding mainly north of the United States; winters 

 from the Gulf States southward. 

 - Range in North Carolina. Occasional during the migrations. 



FIG. 29. WHITE PELICAN. 



This great bird is of very rare occurrence in North Carolina. We have in fact 

 only three records for the State, which are as follows: At Raleigh, one was shot 

 on the State carp-ponds, May 12, 1884, by J. H. Coover. In Buncombe County, 

 a flock of forty was seen on the French Broad River in May, 1889; five of these 

 were shot, and two passed into the possession of Cairns. One was taken by J. H. 

 Bigham near Sloan's Ferry on the Catawba River, October 2, 1907 (Charlotte 

 Evening Chronicle, October 3, 1907.) 



37. Pelecanus occidentalis (Linn.). BROWN PELICAN. 



Ads. in breeding plumage. Top of head white, sometimes straw-yellow like a spot on upper 

 breast; line down either side of breast white; hindhead, neck and a spot on foreneck seal-brown; 

 sides and back silvery gray bordered by brownish black; scapulars, wing-coverts, secondaries, 

 and 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. Im. Above grayish brown margined with paler; chest 

 brownish, belly white. L., 50.00; W., 19.50; Tar., 2.65; B., 11.00. (Chap., Birds of E. N. A.) 



Range. Ranges in summer from North Carolina southward. Breeds from South Carolina 

 southward to Brazil. 



Range in North Carolina. 'Sounds of the coastal region regularly in summer. 



