296 THE PELICAN IN ENGLAND. 



Latham has stated,* on the authority of Sir Thomas 

 Brown, that a pelican of this species was killed in Horsey 

 Fen in 1663. This statement was copied by Montagu.f 

 and subsequently by Dr. Fleming,^ but there is no evi- 

 dence to show that the bird was a wild one. On the 

 contrary, it is probable, as suggested by Sir Thomas 

 Brown, that it may have been one of the King's pelicans 

 which was lost about that time from St. James's Park. 



He says§: — "An onocrotalus, or pelican, shot upon 

 Horsey Fen, May 22, 1663, which, stuffed and cleaned, I 

 yet retain. It was three yards and a half between the 

 extremities of the wings ; the chowle and beak answering 

 the usual description ; the extremities of the wings for a 

 span deep brown ; the rest of the body white ; a fowl 

 which none could remember upon this coast. 



" About the same time, I heard one of the king's 

 pelicans was lost at St. James's ; perhaps this might be 

 the same." 



Latham was further assured by Dr. Leith, that in the 

 month of May he saw a brown pelican fly over his head 

 on Blackheath, in Kent. Montagu, however, suggests 

 that the bird was an immature swan. 



In The Zoologist for 1856 (p. 5321), the Rev. H. B. 

 Tristram has recorded, that on the 25th of August, 1856, 



*■ "Synopsis," iii. p. 577 (1785). 



f "Suppl. Orn. Diet." (1813). 



J " Hist. Brit. An." p. 118 (1828). 



§ " Works :" Wilkin's ed. vol. iv. p. 318. 



