THE PELICAN. 



287 



the cheeks flesh-coloured ; the pouch of a light straw- 

 colour ; the legs and web dhigy yellow, with somewhat 

 of a leaden cast; and the claws black. On the greater 

 part of the head and neck the plumage is nothing more 

 than a short close even down, gradually passing into 

 feathers, and forming on the back of the head a kind 

 of tuft which falls downwards over the hinder part of 

 the neck. 



The young birds, a pair of which are now exhibited 

 in the Society's Collection in the same enclosure with 

 the old, have the feathers of their back and wings of a 

 grayish brown with lighter margins, the quill-feathers 

 dusky, those of the neck tinged with lead or ash-colour, 

 and the under parts dirty white. The bill, pouch, and 

 naked parts of the cheeks, are of a livid gray, spotted 

 on the former with patches of a deeper hue, and the 

 legs and feet are nearly of the same dull leaden tinge. 

 Birds brought in this state from the eastern islands of 

 Asia have been described by various authors as a dis- 

 tinct species. 



When fully grown, the Common Pelican is almost 

 the largest bird of its order, measuring from five to six 

 feet from the extremity of its long l^ill to the tip of its 

 rounded tail, and from ten to twelve in the expanse of 

 its wings. The extent of these latter organs, together 

 with the extreme lightness of the bony structure (which 

 is capable of receiving a large quantity of air), enable 

 the bird to soar to a very considerable height, and to 

 remain long upon the wing. Its bill, frequently sixteen 

 or eighteen inches in length, and two or even more in 

 breadth, has but little strength ; but the fish on which 

 it preys are immediately consigned to its pouch, in 

 which it speedily accumulates a sufficient store to serve 

 it for a meal, and then retires to some neighbouring 

 rock to satisfy its voracity, which is by no means 

 trifling, from the contents of its wallet. This part is 



