OUR INDIAN PELICANS. 497 
again, say in March, when the birds begin to leave us, the 
bills of the adults are brighter colored than I have above 
described ; the pouch, too, varieseven in specimens killed the 
same day (showing that these changes are not exactly 
synchronous in all individuals) frem pale and dingy to very 
bright yellow. 
Throughout, however, all these variations in tint, the type 
of colouring is the same, and the dimensions for such large 
birds are singularly consistent. There can be no doubt of the 
unity of the species. The changes of plumage amongst females 
that I have observed are these: A November bird is all over 
white, with only a very faint rosy tint; the scapulars and 
tertials also are almost without exception white ; one or two 
scapulars may show a black marginal line along the inner 
web to the point, and on the basal half of the outer web; 
the base of the neck is unicolorous with the breast; there is 
nothing to call a crest, only a few of the feathers of the occi- 
put are slightly longer, and with those succeeding them form 
a sort of mane ; in birds killed in the latter half of January a 
distinct rosy hue pervades the whole plumage. At the base of 
the neck a broad yellowish patch of yellow elongated feathers 
are seen, which vary from yellowish pink to a decided pale 
yellow. In most specimens the secondaries are distinctly mar- 
gined with a black line on the outer web, and some of the 
tertiaries, at any rate, on both webs. Of the four females 
killed on the same day and at the same place, two show these 
black margins very distinctly, one has lost a good many 
of them and one has lost them. all, except on two of 
the secondaries and one of the tertiaries. The longer 
scapularies in some of the specimens are similarly mar- 
gined. Some show only traces of them, and in one they 
have apparently almost entirely disappeared. There is no 
uniformity of process about this, because the bird that has 
entirely lost the black margins on the secondaries and 
tertiaries is found, on lifting the feathers, to retain them, 
conspicuously on lower scapulars, while one bird that still 
retains them well marked on secondaries and_tertiaries have 
apparently no trace of them on the scapulars. 
Then as tothe crest in the birds killed the same day 
one has the crest just incipient, two inches in length, two others 
have them three inches, and the fourth has the crest 4$ 
inches, bright rosy at the base in this latter, whitish towards 
the tips. When we take the March bird every trace of dark 
margins have disappeared from the scapulars and tertiaries, 
and asa rule to a great extent from the secondaries, though some- 
times these latter still show narrow black margins quite to 
the tips. The crest is now, measured from the base of the 
