590 MR. D. G. ELLIOT ON THE GENUS PELECANUS. [Noy. 25, 
portion of the United States, and has been met with in the fur- 
countries up to the 6lst parallel. On the southern coast of the 
United States they are very abundant; and I have witnessed them 
in winter on the sea-beach at Florida, standing close together in 
long rows of many hundreds of individuals, enjoying a siesta 
after fishing. This species does not plunge into the water after its 
prey, as is the custom of its relative the P. fuscus, but swims along, 
beating the surface of the water with its wings, and scooping up 
great numbers of fish at once. When raising the bill from the 
water, the point is held downwards until all the water has been al- 
lowed to run out from the sae, and then the small fish contained in the 
skinny bag are devoured at leisure. Sometimes so many fish or such 
large ones are obtained that the sac hangs down nearly to the ground, 
it is so very elastic; while at other times, when empty, it is drawn 
up between the crura of the lower mandible. When flying, these 
birds proceed in single file, flapping their wings two or three times 
in succession, and then sailing along for some distance, when the 
flappings are repeated. It is a very agreeable sight to witness them 
proceed in this manner along the surf, just clearing the waves as 
they roll and toss beneath them, and at times disappearing in the 
trough of the sea, to rise again over the crest of some mighty 
breaker. When on the wing, the head is drawn in close to the 
shoulders, the webbed feet extended behind. I have never heard 
them utter any sound as they thus proceeded. 
The synonymy of this species does not involve any particularly 
doubtful point; several of the old authors, such as Pennant, and 
indeed some of the latter ones, as Swainson and Nuttall, confound 
it with the European bird. The name erythrorhynchus given to it 
by Gmelin, although perhaps unfortunate, since the bill is not red, 
yet has priority over Latham’s more appropriate one of ¢rackyrhyn- 
chus, and, consequently, must stand as the name for the species. 
The efforts made by some later writers to substitute Latham’s 
name for that of Gmelin’s cannot be countenanced ; for it is contrary 
to the laws of priority, which is professed to be accepted as in- 
fluencing the nomenclature of science ; and if, simply because a 
name may be inappropriate, it is to give way to some other, then 
indeed a fine field is open for some one desirous of acquiring 
distinction in this line, as numerous names now accepted in ornitho- 
logy could very properly be superseded by others. 
PELECANUS CONSPICILLATUS. 
Pelecanus conspicillatus, Temm. Pl. Col. 276; Gould, B. of 
Austr. vol. vii. pl. 74; Bon. Consp. Gen. Av. vol. ii. (1857) p. 161; 
Reichen. Syst. Av. vol.i. pl. 37. figs. 380, 381, and pl. 370. 
figs. 2318 & 2329; Schleg. Mus. Pays-Bas, p. 36, 4™¢ livraison ; 
Less. Traité d’Ornith. p. 602. sp. 3. 
Catoptropelicanus conspicillatus, Reichenb. 
Pelecanus australis, Steph. Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. xiii. (1825) 
<ll3. 
e Ne-rim-ba and Boo-dee-lung, aborigines of Australia. 
