AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



61 



ROUGH BILLED PELICAN. 

 PELE CANUS ER YTHR OR YNCHOS. 



[Plate VI.] 



P. erythrorynchos. Gmel. i. 571. No. 15. — P. trachy- 

 rynchos. Latham, index, 884. Phil. Trans, vol. 54, 

 419. — Rough billed Pelican. Lath. Synops. 6. p. 586. 

 Philadelphia Museum. 



The Pelicans belong to the family of Totipalmes, 

 Guv. which are distinguished by having their hind toe 

 united to the others by a continuous membrane, notwith- 

 standing which organization, they are almost the only web 

 footed birds which perch on trees. They almost all fly 

 well, and have short legs. 



This genus, as instituted by Linnseus, comprehended all 

 of the palmated tribe, the base of whose bills are in a greater 

 or less degree destitute of feathers, and having the nostrils 

 placed in a groove running along the sides of the upper 

 mandible, with their aperture so small as scarcely to be 

 distinguished; and also, having a more or less dilated gul- 

 let, and a very small tongue. Under this definition were in- 

 cluded the Pelicans proper, the cormorants, gannets, &c. 

 The observations of more recent naturalists, however, have 

 shown the necessity of separating these birds into several 

 distinct genera, restricting that of Pelecanus to such as 

 are possessed of the following characteristics: " Bill very 

 long, broad, stout, straight, much depressed; upper man- 

 dible convex at base, then plane, seamed on each side, 

 ridge distinct, ending in a compressed, robust, and strongly 

 hooked nail; lower broader, formed of two flexible cartila- 

 ginous branches united at tip, supporting a naked mem- 

 brane, capable of forming by distention a pouch of great 

 size, extending beyond the throat; edges of the upper man- 

 dible, plane internally, separated from the palate by two 

 longitudinal, approximated, sharp processes; palate cari- 

 nated, lower edges sharp; nostrils in the furrow, basal, 

 linear, longitudinal, hardly distinguishable; tongue cartila- 

 ginous, very small, obtuse and arcuated at tip. Head mo- 

 derate, face and cheeks naked; eyes rather large; neck 

 long, stoutish; body massive. Feet nearly central, short, 

 robust; tibia naked below; tarsi shorter than the second 

 toe, stout, naked; middle toe longest, one-third longer than 

 the outer; hind toe shortest, hardly half as long as the 

 middle one; connecting membrane broad, full, entire; 

 nails falculate; the middle one with its edges entire, or 

 pectinated. Wings moderate, ample ; second primary 

 longest ; secondaries reaching to the primaries. Tail 

 rounded of twenty feathers."* 



The female is very similar in appearance to the male, 



Q 



' C. L. BuoDaparte. Synop. Birds of the U. S. 



but the young differs greatly for a long time. They moult 

 annually, and have a short, thick, and close plumage. 



The most remarkable peculiarity of these birds, is the 

 bag or pouch attached to the lower mandible. This bag, 

 when empty, the bird has the power of contracting into a 

 very small compass, and of wrinkling it up until it scarcely 

 hangs below the bill, though when fully extended, it is of 

 an enormous size; it may be considered as its crop, as it 

 serves all the purposes of that receptacle, and from being 

 placed at the commencement, instead of the termination of 

 the gullet, it enables them to retain food in it for a considera- 

 ble time, without becoming altered. When in pursuit of 

 prey, the Pelican stows its spoils in this pouch, and when 

 it is full, retires to the shore to devour the fruits of its in- 

 dustry at leisure. In this manner also, the female carries 

 food for her young, and when disgorging it, presses the 

 bottom of the sac upon her breast, and thus discharges its 

 contents. This mode of procedure has, in all probability, 

 given rise to the poetic fable of her opening her breast, and 

 feeding her young on her own blood. 



And like the kind life rendering Pelican, 

 Refresh them with my blood.* 



Except this opinion of the ancients was founded on the 

 circumstance we have alluded to, we cannot comprehend 

 how they should have attributed to this stupid bird, the admi- 

 rable qualities and maternal affections for which it was cele- 

 brated amons them. When the membrane of which this 

 pouch is composed is carefully prepared, it becomes as soft 

 as silk, and is sometimes embroidered for work bags or 

 purses. It is also used for tobacco pouches and shot bags, 

 and among the negroes in the West Indies, it is thought 

 that slippers formed from it are an infallible remedy against 

 the gout; as well as convulsions in children. 



These birds are said to be torpid and inactive to the last 

 degree, so that nothing can exceed their indolence but their 

 gluttony, and the powerful stimulus of hunger is necessary 

 to excite them to exertion. They, however, fly well, and 

 can remain on the wing for a long time, hovering over the 

 surface of the sea at a considerable height, until they per- 

 ceive a fish near the surface, when they dart down with 

 great swiftness, and seldom fail in seizing it. They all 

 swim with equal celerity, and dive with adroitness. It is 

 also said by some authors,! that these birds unite in flocks 

 for the purpose of taking their prey, forming a circle, 

 and swimming towards its centre. When they have con- 

 tracted the space sufficiently, at a certain signal they all 

 strike the water with their wings, thus frightening the fish 

 to such a degree, that they fall an easy prey to their insa- 

 tiable pursuers. These manoeuvres take place during the 



* Hamlet. Act 4. Sc. 5. t Descourtilz Voyages, d'uanaturalisle, t, ii. p. 241. 



