576 MR. D. G. ELLIOT ON THE GENUS PELECANUS. [Nov. 25, 
Characters of the Subfamily. 
The Pelicans form a very strongly defined and well-marked group 
or division of the great family Pelecanide, which is distinguished from 
all others by its members possessing gular sacs, less extensive in the 
Cormorants and Gannets, but having their greatest development in the 
birds forming the genus now under consideration. Another peculiar 
characteristic of this family is, that its members have the four toes 
connected by a thin semitransparent skin; the hind toe, articulated 
to the inner side of the tarsus, pointing inwards, sometimes directed 
slightly forwards. Although so well provided for a life in the watery 
element, they nevertheless perch well upon the branches of trees, in 
many instances build their nests upon the limbs raised high above 
the water. The young are incapable of providing for themselves, 
and do not leave the nest for a long period after escaping from the 
shell. 
The family Pelecanide is composed of six subfamilies, Phetonine, 
Attagenine, Plotine, Pelecanineg, Suline, and Graculine, as it 
appears to the present writer. Gray comprises them in three, 
making Pelecanine to include Suline, Graculine, and Attagenine, 
while many writers make them all distinct families. These six sub- 
families constitute the order Steganopodes. The members of this 
order occupy a very humble rank in the classification of birds, being 
only the second remove from the lowest, which comprises the Auks 
and their allies, some of which, in their wingless forms, or rather 
being incapable of flight, are but one step from the inhabitants of 
the deep. As a general rule the Pelecans are dwellers in warm 
countries, and are found mostly in those lying towards the equator ; 
but there are exceptions to this, the P. erythrorhynchus of North 
America having been met with in great numbers in the fur-countries 
as high as 61° N. latitude, and the P. onocrotalus of Europe has 
penetrated into the colder regions of that continent. Pelicans are 
altrices, and do not generally lay more than two eggs, although 
three are sometimes found in the same nest. They are naturally 
arranged into two groups, according to the shape of the frontal 
feathers. One, of which we may consider P. onocrotalus as the 
type, has the feathers prolonged to a point, which divides the bare 
skin, and comes down nearly to the culmen; the other, of which 
P. crispus may be taken as the type, has the feathers coming down 
upon the forehead and forming a concave line upon the culmen. 
The first of these embraces, beside the typical species, minor and 
javanicus; the second contains crispus, rufescens, conspicillatus, 
erythrorhynchus, fuscus, aud moline. All the species fly and walk 
well; one only dives or plunges. 
Pelicans are the largest of the water-birds, some species exceeding 
the Swan in size, and when upon the wing have an alar extent nearly 
as great as any bird that flies. Their bodies are heavy; but they 
seem to be no impediment to the bird when desirous of ascending 
into the air, where they frequently amuse themselves sailing in wide 
circles for hours. 
