﻿172 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  attitude 
  at 
  once 
  distinguish 
  them 
  from 
  all 
  our 
  other 
  birds. 
  The 
  Double- 
  

   crested 
  cormorant 
  is 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  eastern 
  North 
  America, 
  breeding 
  . 
  from 
  

   Dakota 
  and 
  New 
  Brunswick 
  northward, 
  and 
  wintering 
  from 
  the 
  38th 
  

   parallel 
  to 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  Mexico. 
  

  

  Family 
  F»ELECAlStIDA.El 
  

  

  Pelicans 
  

  

  Characters. 
  Totipalmate 
  birds 
  of 
  large 
  size 
  and 
  great 
  expanse 
  of 
  wing 
  ; 
  

   bill 
  very 
  long, 
  straight, 
  flattened 
  and 
  grooved, 
  and 
  furnished 
  with 
  a 
  hawk- 
  

   like 
  hook 
  at 
  the 
  tip 
  ; 
  an 
  enormous 
  pouch 
  fitted 
  to 
  the 
  branches 
  of 
  the 
  lower 
  

   mandible 
  which 
  serves 
  as 
  a 
  net 
  in 
  catching 
  fish; 
  lores 
  and 
  pouch 
  bare; 
  feet 
  

   very 
  stout; 
  tail 
  short, 
  of 
  many 
  feathers. 
  

  

  Pelicans 
  are 
  mostly 
  confined 
  to 
  warm 
  regions, 
  nesting 
  in 
  large 
  colonies 
  

   usually 
  on 
  islands, 
  placing 
  the 
  nest 
  on 
  or 
  near 
  the 
  ground. 
  Eggs 
  are 
  from 
  

   two 
  to 
  five 
  in 
  number. 
  The 
  young 
  are 
  altricial 
  in 
  nature. 
  They 
  are 
  fed 
  

   on 
  fish 
  brought 
  to 
  them 
  by 
  their 
  parents. 
  In 
  feeding 
  they 
  thrust 
  their 
  

   bills 
  down 
  the 
  parent's 
  gullet 
  until 
  their 
  whole 
  head 
  is 
  sometimes 
  out 
  of 
  

   sight. 
  This 
  peculiar 
  habit 
  coupled 
  with 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  pelican's 
  pouch 
  

   and 
  gullet 
  is 
  often 
  bloody 
  from 
  wounds 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  spines 
  of 
  fishes 
  which 
  

   it 
  has 
  swallowed, 
  undoubtedly 
  gave 
  rise 
  to 
  the 
  legend 
  that 
  the 
  pelican 
  

   nourishes 
  its 
  young 
  with 
  blood 
  from 
  its 
  own 
  breast. 
  White 
  pelicans 
  fish 
  

   in 
  companies, 
  driving 
  the 
  fish 
  before 
  them 
  and 
  scooping 
  them 
  up 
  as 
  they 
  

   come 
  to 
  the 
  surface 
  ; 
  but 
  brown 
  pelicans 
  catch 
  their 
  prey 
  by 
  plunging 
  from 
  

   a 
  hight 
  of 
  20 
  feet, 
  or 
  more, 
  as 
  they 
  course 
  back 
  and 
  forth 
  above 
  the 
  water 
  

   and 
  the 
  resulting 
  splash 
  may 
  be 
  heard 
  for 
  a 
  half 
  mile 
  [Chapman]. 
  

  

  Pelecanus 
  erythrorhynchos 
  Gmelin 
  

   American 
  White 
  Pelican 
  

  

  Pelecanus 
  erythrorhynchos 
  GmeHn. 
  Syst. 
  Nat. 
  1788. 
  Ed. 
  i. 
  2:571 
  

  

  A. 
  O. 
  U. 
  Check 
  List. 
  Ed. 
  2. 
  1895. 
  No. 
  125 
  

  

  pelecd'nus, 
  Lat., 
  peHcan; 
  eryihrorhyn' 
  chus 
  , 
  Gr. 
  spuOpoq, 
  red, 
  and 
  rjX'ioq 
  beak 
  

  

  Description. 
  Breeding 
  plumage: 
  White; 
  primaries 
  black; 
  occipital 
  

   crest 
  and 
  wing 
  coverts 
  dull 
  yellow; 
  a 
  horny 
  prominence 
  on 
  the 
  bill. 
  In 
  

  

  