854 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



whole length of the bill ; lower mandible thin, of two narrow 

 flexible bony arches supporting a huge extensile pouch ; orbits 

 nude ; wings long, very ample, 2nd primary longest ; tail short, 



rounded, soft ; tarsus short, stout ; feet large. 



» 



Hawasil, H. — Bellua, Birua or Blierua, in Behar. Gugun-bher 

 in some parts — Gang-goya of some — Gara-polo, or Gora-pallo, 

 Beng. — Peyn Sindh. — Chinka-batu, Tel. — Madde-pora, Tarn. 



Pelicans are well known birds of gigantic size, which, in 

 spite of their heavy bodies, are remarkably buoyant in flight, 

 and several species migrate to vast distances, flying in regular lines. 

 They occur all over the world. They fly with their necks drawn 

 back. On land they are not very agile, having a waddling gait. 

 They feed chiefly on fishes, which they catch simply by putting 

 down their heads whilst swimming; and they never dive. They 

 nidificate on trees, making a large nest of sticks. 



There are several species found in India, but the determination 

 of these I have found to be a work of considerable difficulty, and 

 I am by no means satisfied that the identifications I have adopted 

 are perfectly correct. 



There are two forms distinguishable by the termination of the 

 frontal plumes. In the one, typified by P. onocrotalus and its 

 allies, the frontal plumes gradually narrow and come to a more or 

 less fine point ; in the other, typified by P. crispus, the frontal fea- 

 thers advance without narrowing much and terminate in a square 

 and somewhat emarginate ending. Of the first form we have 

 apparently three species in India. 



1001. Pelecanus onocrotalus, Linnjeus. 



Shaw, Zool. — Latham. Gen. Hist. — Gould, Birds of Europe, 

 pi. 405?— P. Javanicus, apud Blyth, Cat. 1741 A. — Lichtens- 

 tein, Abhand. Akad. Berlin, 1838, pi. 111. f. 1. 



The European Pelican. 



Descr. — Plumage pure white, in some tinged faintly with rosy ; 

 primaries and winglet black ; the first primaries with white shafts, 

 and the secondaries with the outer webs white, and the inner grey ; 



