Pelecanid^.- 



-BIRDS.- 



-The Gaknet. 



431 



Family VI.— PELECANID.E. 



The birds forming this last family of the order Nata- 

 tores, and concluding our review of the class of birds, 

 are at once distinguisliable from all others by the struc- 

 ture of their feet, wliich have the hinder toe turned 

 inwards, and united by a narrow triangular web with 

 the inner anterior toe — fig. 137. They have a head 



Fig. 137. 



Foot of Pelican 



of small or moderate size, supported upon a long and 

 slender neck, and armed with a bill which is also usually 

 elongated in its form, and terminated either by a sharp 

 point, or, as far as the upper mandible is concerned, by 

 a hooked nail. The legs, which are generally short and 

 stout, are not placed very far back, and the wings are 

 generally of great extent and power. These birds are 

 all great destroyers of fish, which constitute their sole 

 nourishment. In other respects their habits exhibit 

 much diversity, and will be best understood by referring 

 to examples of the difterent forms occurring in the 

 fomily. 



THE COMMON PELICAN {Pclecanus Onocrotahis) . 

 — The Pelicans are distinguished by their very long 

 bills, of wliich the upper mandible is terminated by 

 a hook, and the lower one furnished with an enor- 

 mous pouch, formed of a naked leathery skin, in 

 which the birds are enabled to stow away the fishes 

 which they capture in their excursions over the surface 

 of the rivers. They are large and powerful birds, the 

 species now under consideration measuring between 

 five and six feet in length, and twelve or thirteen in 

 expanse of wing. Its plumage is white, with more or 

 less of a rosy tinge, and the nail at the tip of the upper 

 mandible is bright red. This bird frequents both the 

 seas and the fresh waters of Asia, Africa, and Eastern 

 Europe, and is generally seen in small flocks. It swims 

 and flies esieedlngly well, and, notwithstanding its 

 large jize, perches freely upon the branches of trees. 

 When seeking its food, the Pelican sweeps on its enor- 

 mous wings at some little height above the surface of 

 (he water, until it perceives a fish passing beneath it, 

 when it instantly dashes down upon its victim with the 

 most astonishing velocity, and with such precision, that 

 it rarely misses its aim. The fish when captured is 

 Btowed away in the great yellow pouch under the chin, 



and the Pelican then flies on to seek more prey. The 

 nest of this bird consists of a mass of grass, sedges, and 

 other aquatic plants, and is usually placed quite close 

 to the edge of the water. The eggs are two or three 

 in number. During the process of incubation, the male 

 is said to furnish his partner with food, and when the 

 3'oung are hatched both parents are assiduous in 

 attending upon them. In disgorging their prey for the 

 nourishment of their young, the birds are described as 

 pressing the pouch against the breast; and it is gene- 

 rally supposed that the notion which prevailed amongst 

 the ancients, and came down nearly to our own day, 

 that the Pelican in times of scarcity nourished her 

 young with her own blood, must have originated in the 

 observation of the gesture above-mentioned, when the 

 bright red tip of the bill, strongly cojitrasted with the 

 pure white plumage of the breast, would easily produce 

 the impression of a spot of blood. About ten other 

 species of Pelicans are known to naturalists. They are 

 scattered over almost the whole world, but agree in 

 their general habits. 



THE GANNET [Sula Bassana), also called the So- 

 LAND Goose, and sometimes the Booby, is another 

 large species of this family, which is found in thousands 

 upon certain parts of the coast of Britain, and occurs 

 elsewhere on the shores both of Europe and North 

 America. One of its best known British stations is 

 the Bass rock in the frith of Forth, from which, indeed, 

 its specific name is derived. The adult Gannet is ncai ly 

 three feet in length, and is of a white colour, with the 

 naked skin of the sides of the fiice blue, the head and 

 neck yellowish or buff, and the primary feathers black. 

 The young bird exhibits a blackish plumage, more or 

 less sjiotted with white. 



In their mode of life the Gannets much resemble the 

 Pelicans. They fly rapidly over the surface of tlie sea 

 in search of the fishes on which the}' feed, and on seeing 

 their prey beneath them, immediately rise into the air 

 to gain sufficient impetus to carry them down to the 

 requisite depth in the water, and then closing their 

 wings, descend perpendicularly upon their intended 

 victim, which, indeed, they rarely miss. They are 

 very partial to herrings, pilchards, and sprats, wliicli, 

 swimming in large shoals, and always near the surface 

 of the water, insure them a good supply of food, and 

 the fishermen, when they see a flock of Gannets busily 

 engaged, know at once where to direct their boats. 



The nest of the Gannet consists of a mass of weeds 

 and grass, placed upon a ledge of rock. In this the 

 female lays a single white egg, and the young bird when 

 hatched is furnished with an abundant supply of food 

 by its parents. On the Bass rock the young birds are 

 taken in considerable numbers every year, and sold for 

 food at a low price. They are clothed with a beautiful 

 white down, said to be quite equal to swan's-down for 

 making tippets, &c. The old birds are taken for the 

 sake of their feathers. A motliod sometimes adopted 

 for securing them consists in fixing a herring upon a 

 board and towing it along the surface of the sea ; the 

 Gannets, seeing it, dart down upon it immediately, and 

 generally kill themselves by the force with which they 

 strike the board. On the Bass rock, where they are 

 protected, they become so tame that they will allow 



