PELECANID^ — THE PELICANS — PELECANUS. 137 



by (lashing into the water while feeding, could be heard to a great distance. They 

 never flew more than twenty or thirty yards in pursuit of fish. When they all 

 plunged into the water together, it would be lashed into foam. After several dis- 

 appointments, Mr. Salvin managed to secure some specimens of this Pelican by 

 getting into a canoe with some fishermen, and gradually r>pproaching them. 



Mr. Charles H. ISTauman informs me that he found birds of this species breed- 

 ing abundantly on the sandbars opposite to New Found Harbor, in Indian River, 

 Florida. They laid their eggs about the middle of May, on the bare sand, making 

 no nest whatever. Audubon did not meet with any of their eggs in Florida, but 

 states that about 1810 they were frequently seen on the sandbars of the Ohio. In 

 April, 1837, he met with the White Pelican in great abundance near the southwest 

 mouth of the Mississippi ; and afterward, in the course of the same season, he saw it 

 in almost every inlet, bay, or river in Texas. 



Mr. Peale mentions procuring specimens of this Pelican at Council Bluff as early 

 as April 8. He also records the killing of a pair of birds of this species on the 

 Delaware, a few miles below Philadelphia. On the western rivers this species has 

 been observed as high as lat. 42°. Mr. Peale found it in company with P. fuscus, 

 breeding in vast numbers on the Mangrove Islands, in Mosquito River, East Florida. 

 He visited these islands in the winter. The birds collected there at night, although 

 it was not their breeding-season. They gathered there to roost, apparently coming 

 from a great distance. The inhabitants of the surrounding country collected the 

 young in great numbers, in June, for the sake of their oil, which is said to burn 

 freely and to emit a clear light. 



The great peculiarity of the Pelicans, as a family, consist in their possession of a 

 pouch attached to the lower mandible, Avhich they have the power of contracting, 

 Avhen empty, into a small compass, so that it hardly hangs below the bill, though 

 when fully expanded it is of great size. This pouch serves all the purposes of a 

 crop, and also enables the bird to retain its food unaltered for a considerable time. 

 The food as fast as collected is stowed away in the pouch ; and when the bird returns 

 to the shore it devours at its leisure that which has thus been laid aside for future 

 use. From the same receptacle, also, the female feeds her young. The membrane of 

 this pouch may be prepared so as to be of silky softness, and is made into work-bags, 

 purses, tobacco-pouches, and shot-bags. 



This species flies well, and can remain on the wing for a long time. It swims 

 and dives with great celerity. The young are fed with fish that have been for some 

 time macerated in the pouch of the mother. The Pelican can be easily tamed, and 

 trained to fish for its owner. According to Faber, a Pelican (P. onocrotalus) in the 

 collection of the King of Bavaria was kept over forty years, and showed evidences of 

 great sagacity. Other instances are also on record of birds of this family attaining 

 a wonderful longevity. 



Mr. Ridgway met with the White Pelican on the Truckee River, about fifteen 

 miles above Pyramid Lake. At first only a few of these birds were seen. In August 

 he accompanied a small party to explore the lake, and visit the abode of the Pelicans 

 upon the islands therein. The number increased as the party descended the river, 

 and many were seen as they reached the open sheet of water. They were very unsus- 

 picious, and took little notice of the approach of the party. When at last he reached 

 the lake, and encamped about three qiiarters of a mile from the mouth of the Truckee, 

 thousands of Pelicans could be seen scattered over the surface of the lake. In the 

 morning, at sunrise, lines of these birds in hundreds could be observed flying from 

 the island to their feeding-grounds at the mouth of the river, in single lines, one 



VOL. II. — 18 



