82 NOTES ON THE 
proximity to water, with little attempt at concealment. The 
length of time after hatching before the young are taken to the 
water I have not reliably ascertained. 
SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 
General plumage, pure white, (in breeding season with a 
roseate tinge); crest and elongated feathers on the breast, pale 
yellow; alula, primary coverts, and primaries, black, the shafts 
of the latter, white for the greater part of their length, and 
brownish-black at the end; outer secondaries, black, the inner 
more or less white, the shafts of all white underneath. Bill, 
yellow, with the edges and unguis, reddish; upper mandible 
high at the base, but becoming gradually flattened to the end; 
on the ridge just beyond the middle of the bill is a thin, 
elevated bony process about one inch high, and extending 
towards the end for three or four inches; lower mandible broad 
at the base, with the crura separated nearly to the point, 
underneath the lower mandible, beginning at the junction of 
the crura and extending down the neck about eight inches, is a 
large membranous sac, or pouch, capable of great expansion, 
of the same color as the bill; bare space around the eye, bright 
yellow; iris, white; legs and feet, yellow; claws, yellowish- 
brown. The female differs only in the absence of the bony 
projection on the upper mandible. 
Length, 70; wing, 24.50; bill, 18.50; tarsus, 4.75; tail, 7. 
Habitat, Temperate North America. 
Notsr. I have no record of the earliest instance of their 
nesting, but generally it takes place in the latter days of May, 
several having been reported by the twenty-fifth. Some have 
been known to occur even after the first of June. The nests 
are very rudimentary, consisting in most cases of the dirt and 
debris found at the place selected, which is on alluvial lands 
quite near the water. There seems to be no attempt at con- 
cealment whatever usually, and they will endure a great deal 
of disturbance from intruders before they will finally abandon 
the spot chosen for incubation. From two to four white eggs 
constitute the ‘‘clutch,” and the male shares the duties of the 
lengthy incubency, as it would seem to be the conjugal duty of 
all male birds, yet unfortunately some come very far short of 
it. I have often conceived that the female cow-bird laid her 
first egg in another bird’s nest because her mate refused to 
share her sacrifices. Later facts, and many isolated circum: 
stances have somewhat modified my opinions as to their aban- 
doning the State for incubation. 
Prof. Herrick, who is quite familiar with the bird life of Mur- 
ray county, expresses himself as confident that they breed about 
Lake Shetak, and later Mr. F. L. Washburn, (now professor 
at Corvallis, Oregon, I am informed), mentions some circum- 
stances in his correspondence that Lake Traverse and many 
other localities in the northwestern parts of the State have 
been adopted as breeding places by the Pelicans. He states 
