134 DALMATIAN PELICAN. 



of the firm in the same way that the great bear of the nursery tales 

 has a big seat, his wife a middling seat, and the little bears a small 

 seat. The eggs are chalky, like those of the Pelecanidce generally, 

 very rough in texture, and some of them much streaked with blood." 

 —"Ibis," vol. ii, p. 395. 



Dr. Baldamus, in "Naumannia" for 1852, relates the following 

 capture of this bird: — "On my return from Orsova to Parosova I saw in 

 the steamboat a Pelican fly past near the water, and it went on six 

 hundred paces ahead of us. The captain gave me permission to shoot 

 from the steamer, and I killed it within thirty paces, as it was 

 soaring over the bowsprit. This was in the current of Klissura, and 

 the bird must either have come over the high rocks from the Valley 

 of the Danube or from Wallachia. This bird nests in the swamps 

 between the Danube and the Theiss, and I received two young ones 

 and the old female, which lived some weeks on live and dead fish." 



In the same journal for 1853, p. 23, Dr. J. F. Naumann says: — 

 "On the upper Sarpa Ponds (colony of Sarepta) is a most interesting 

 breeding place of this bird. I looked for them unfortunately too 

 early, but the construction of the nest could be well observed. It 

 was placed very deep in the rushes of the pond. After half an hour's 

 trial we succeeded in making a passage through mighty rush thickets, 

 where the Swans and Ducks were swimming about. The nests were 

 placed on the narrow banks, close to one another, and they appeared 

 as though they were swimming together among the roots of the old 

 rushes and reed stems, and they were placed so thickly that they 

 did not sink when stood upon or walked over. The nest was very 

 narrow for the size of the bird." 



The following account, by Dr. CuUen, of Kustendji, was published 

 by me in the "Field," of July, 1870:— 



"The Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus, Bree, B. of E., vol. iv., 

 1st. ed., p. 167). — Anyone living in the Dobrudsha must have yearly 

 op]Dortunities of verifying the truth of Mr. Simpson's statement in the 

 'Ibis,' that this Pelican is to be seen in the early summer in flocks of 

 hundreds and thousands. That the Dobrudsha should be so favourite 

 a resort for this bird is explained by reference to the physical 

 structure of the country. At various parts along the coasts, and 

 often at but short distances inland, there are numerous large fresh-water 

 lakes, some of them of great depth, and more or less filled with an 

 almost tropical growth of reeds often twelve to fifteen feet high. We 

 were fortunate enough to discover one of these not far from the 

 Danube, partly surrounded by low hills, about six miles long, and 

 sub-divided by the reeds into several small lakelets, each of which 



