PELECANID^— THE PELICANS. 195 



Family PBLBCANIDiE.— The Pelicans. 



Cbaba.cti:bs. Bill greatly elongated and excessively depressed, the terminal unguis 

 very nrominent and strongly hooked; gular poueh exceedingly large and greatly distensi- 

 ble ; lores and orbital region— sometimes other parts of the head also— naked. Toes fully 

 webbed,, the outer almost as long as the middle, the inner much shorter. Tail very short, 

 nearly even, or slightly rounded. Size usually very large. 



The Pelicans include about ten species, which are found mostly 

 in the warmer parts of the world, although two of them — the 

 common American P. erythrorhynchos and the Palaearctic P. oris- 

 pus — extend in summer to high northern latitudes. As may be 

 seen from the synonymy of the genus PeleccMvus, these birds have 

 been divided into several genera by authors; but each species 

 possesses so many peculiarities of external structure that it is 

 doubtful whether the differences between the sui^posed genera are 

 of more than subgeneric importance. 



Genus PELECANUS Linn^us. 



Pelecanus la^^a. S. N. ed. 10, i.1758,132; ed 12,1,1766,215. Type, P. onocrotalus LiKN. 

 Vnocrolahjts Bbiss. Dm. vi, 1760, 519. Type, Pelecanus onocrotalus LiNN, 

 Cvrtopelicanus Reich. Syst. Av. 1853, p. vii. Type, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos Gmel. 

 Leptopelicanus Ebich. 1. o\ Type, Pelecanus fuscus Linn. 

 Catoptropelicanus Beioh. 1. o. Type, Pelecanus conspicillatua Tbmm. 



The characters of this genus being the same as those given 

 above for the Family Pelecanidm, it is unnecessary to repeat them 

 here. It is possible, however, that the ffenus as here used in a 

 comprehensive sense should be subdivided, as indicated by the 

 above synonymy. 



The species which occur in Illinois may be thus distinguished: 



A. Lower jaw densely feathered to the base of the mandible. Tail-feathers 24. (Subgenus 

 CV'Opelicanus.) 

 1. F. erytbrorlivnahOB. Color white.the primaries blaoki-h. Bill and feet yellowish, 

 deepening to red in the breeding-season. Wing, 22.UU-25.25 inches: oulmen, U.SO- 

 13.85. 



