368 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



any rate, the young bird inserts its whole head down the parent's 

 throat, much lower than the opening of the pouch. In fact, the 

 point of the young bird's beak could be most distinctly seen 

 pressing from inside at the base of the old bird v s neck. In this 

 observation I was corroborated by my friend the consul, who 

 from an adjacent islet was watching the birds through his glass, 

 while lying prone on the sand. His description of what he saw 

 exactly corresponded with what I have described. 



The old birds frequently yawned, stretching their necks and 

 beaks upright, at the same time arching their lower mandibles, 

 which are exceedingly flexible, into the shape of a hoop. It may 

 be, perhaps, that this is an attempt to dislodge the numbers of 

 parasites, apparently intestinal worms, which were adhering in 

 large numbers to the inner skin of the pouch of an adult female 

 which was shot and skinned. 



The peculiar character of the skin was very noticeable. It 

 was porous and cellular to an extraordinary degree, resembling a 

 series of innumerable air-bubbles. Even the body had large air- 

 cavities, and the bones were very hollow. This porosity, no 

 doubt, helps to support their huge bodies in the air, and must 

 serve a most useful purpose during flight. They can fly well and 

 strongly, with the head drawn back and the beak resting on the 

 doubled-back neck. 



This colony had its parasites. Hooded Crows (Corvus comix) 

 and Gulls {Larus cachinnans) walked about in a most impudent 

 and familiar manner among the Pelicans. They no doubt act 

 as scavengers, and devour any fish dropped, and probably they 

 also eat the eggs and any dead young birds. The fishermen de- 

 scribed how the Eagles spent whole days devouring young Peli- 

 cans, and we found a nearly full-grown young one almost entirely 

 eaten, while near by lay the feather of an Imperial Eagle. 



The fishermen, by the way, appeared to regard the Pelicans 

 in a very friendly way, and did not look upon them, as I had 

 been told, as rivals in business. On the contrary, they seemed 

 to have a sort of superstitious liking for them, and were very un- 

 willing for any of them to be shot. They denied altogether their 

 feeding on fish, and were quite surprised when a mass of eels 

 which they had disgorged was pointed out to them. On the 

 other hand, they gladly went in pursuit of a wounded Lams 



