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PALMIPEDES. 

 • Family PELECANID^. f Bonaparte. J 

 Genus Pelecanus. fLinnceus.J 



Generic - Characters. — 'Beak long, thick, straight, and much 

 depressed; upper mandible flattened, terminated by a strong 

 nail or hook; inferior mandible formed by two bony branches, 

 depressed, flexible, united at the tip; from these two branches 

 depends a large fold of skin in the form of a pouch. Face 

 and throat naked; nostrils basal, opening longitudinally; legs 

 strong, short; three toes in front and one behind, the latter 

 articulated internally, but on the same plane as the others, all 

 united by a membrane; claw of middle toe without denticu- 

 lations. Wings medium size; the first primary shorter than 

 the second, which is the longest; greater wing coverts and 

 secondary quills, nearest the body, as long as the primaries. 



DALMATIAN PELICAN. 



Pelecanus crispus. 



Pelecanus crispus, Bkuch; Isis, 1832. 



" onocratulus, var. orientalis, Linn^us. 



Pelecanus onocratulus, Pallas. 



Pelican frise, Of the French. 



Riesen-Pelikan, Of the Germans. 



Specific Characters. — A small reddish naked space round the 

 eyes, which space is narrow at the base of the beak, where the 

 frontal feathers form a double festoon. Tarsi short; feet blackish. 

 Plumage generally argentine white. Length six feet; from carpal 

 joint to tip of wing twenty-five inches; beak from forehead 



