290 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



weight easily and quickly from either land or water ; its light hollow 

 bones and the large air sac under its skin give it great displace- 

 ment. The effort to rise seems labored at first, and is accomplished 

 by rapid flappings, with a great swishing of powerful pinions beating 

 the air ; the great wings are thrown well forward at every stroke ; the 

 feet are dangling and the neck is only half extended. In a moment, 

 as the bird gains headway, the feet are held out straight behind, the 

 head is drawn back upon the shoulders, and the bird proceeds upon 

 its way with slow majestic wing strokes. At intervals it sails for 

 long distances on motionless, decurrent wings, a perfect picture of 

 aerial grace and dignity. In the teeth of the strongest gale it soars 

 aloft in majestic circlies until almost out of sight, adjusting its aero- 

 planes to the wind and moving at will in any direction, without the 

 slightest apparent effort. White pelicans are particularly fond of in- 

 dulging in aerial exercise. Mr. Finley (1907) describes their daily 

 performance as follows : 



After returning from the fishing grounds and lounging about the nests for 

 a while the pelicans began to circle over the colony in a large company, rising 

 higher and higher till they were almost lost in blue. By watching we could 

 occasionally see the faint flashes of white as the snowy breasts reflected a 

 gleam of the sun. For hours the sky would glitter with these great birds as 

 they soared about. Then it was thrilling to see some of them descend with 

 rigid, half -closed wings. They used the sky as a big toboggan slide and dropped 

 like meteors, leaving a trail of thunder. Several times when we first heard 

 the sound we were deceived into thinking it was the advance messenger of a 

 heavy storm and jumped up expecting to see black clouds rising from behind 

 the mountains. 



Doctor Chapman (1908) gives the following account of one of 

 their aerial feats : 



On the afternoon in question a thunderstorm developed rapidly, the sky be- 

 came ominously black and threatening, and a strong wind whipped the tules into 

 a rustling troubled sea of green. This atmospheric disturbance acted upon the 

 soaring birds In a remarkable manner, stimulating them to perform aerial feats 

 of which I had no idea they were capable. They dived from the heavens like 

 winged meteors, the roar of the air through their stiff pinions sounding as 

 though they had torn great rents in the sky. Approaching the earth they 

 checked their descent by an upshoot, and then with amazing agility zigagged 

 over the marsh, darting here and there like swallows after insects. 



On land the white pelican is not graceful, but it walks well, with 

 a stately and dignified air. On the water it floats lightly as a cork, 

 on account of its great displacement, and it swims rapidly and easily, 

 but it is not built for diving. It looms up large and white even at a 

 great distance. Its color pattern is somewhat similar to that of three 

 other large birds, the gannet, the whooping crane, and the wood ibis, 

 but in size and shape the four are distinctly different. 



White pelicans are particularly silent birds ; the only notes that I 

 have heard them utter are the low-toned grunts or subdued croaking 



