98 The Ottawa Naturalist. [August 



noticed on a distant shallow strip of bush-grown shingle an 

 ass mblagc of white pelicans. They were crowded in a long 

 line like a company of soldiers arrayed in spotless white tunics. 

 It was early morning (6 a.m.), and as the bright sun shone 

 through the clear northern air, the line of large white birds stood 

 out in bold relief amidstream. They were bobbing their heads 

 up and down, and shifting uneasily as though they were going 

 through the old method of regimental " sizing" — tallest at the 

 enH, shortest in the middle of the line. With characteristic 

 timidity they rose in flight when our boat was two or three 

 hundred yards away. I counted them as they rose and found 

 that there were ^6 birds, and there must in all have been at least 

 a hundred pelicans along the rapids which extend some four 

 miles. They looked like huge swans or gulls, the head being 

 gracefully thrown back, bringing the point of the long beak 

 very little in front of the breast. The shortness of the tail was 

 obscured by the stout yellow webbed feet which were backwardly 

 directed in flight and gave the bird a greater apparent length, 

 as the feet extended beyond the blunt tail which, it may be 

 added, consists of 20 or 25 short feathers. Each tail-feather 

 terminates in a white pointed plate or horny tip. The expanse 

 of the wings was the most remarkable feature. It imparts a 

 majestic appearance to the bird. Seen from below, the outer 

 half of each wing is observed to be of a dull black colour ; the 

 inner part, next to the body of the bird, is cream white ; so that 

 the wings have the appearance, when expanded, of a huge letter 

 >' U " of white, with the outer broad fringe of black. One famous 

 U.S. naturalist speaks of the pelican as " clumsy on the wing ;" 

 but no one could so speak who saw these birds as I saw 

 them in their native haunts. 



They flew for some distance in a confused manner, without 

 arranging themselves like ducks or geese in regular flying order 

 Some separated from the rest and moved round gracefully in 

 circles with motionless outstretched wings, after the manner of 



