FAM. PELECANID&A 
BY DR. ALPHONSE DUBOIS 
Characters. Bill very long, straight; the culmen rounded at the base, and 
flat towards the tip, which is armed with an acute, compressed, strong hook; 

lower mandible forming two branches attached at the point, and sustaining a very large 
distensible gular pouch; nostrils basal, elongated; wings very large, the second and third 
quills nearly equal and longest; tail short and rounded, composed of 22 or 24 feathers; tarsi 
short, compressed, and covered with reticulated scales; toes long, and all four united by a 
full web. Palatines fused in the middle line, and provided with a deep median keel; furculum 
fused with the carina sterni, which is about three quarters of the length of the corpus sterni. 
Habits and Reproduction. These large birds are essentially aquatic in their habits, 
frequenting rivers, lakes, and sea. In the morning and evening they are seen in small 
flocks of six to fourteen individuals, engaged in fishing, until their pouch is sufficiently filled. 
It has been affirmed, that they occasionally capture their prey by uniting into large flocks, 
and encircling a piece of water, beating with their wings on the surface, until the afirighted 
fish are driven into a small space, and deprived of all means of escape. They swim with ease 
and great swiftness, and fly with facility and speed, though they take wing heavily. They breed 
in large lagoons or shallow lakes, constructing a large bulky nest of reeds and aquatic herbage, 
on small islands or on a platforme of reeds and lay two to four rough chalky white eggs. 
