356 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



Museum Leverianum, Plate CCIX; Trans. Berlin Acad. 1838, 

 Plate III ; Aud. B. of Am. Plate CCCXI ; octavo edition, VII, Plate 

 CCCCXXII. 



This bird, though of rare occurrence on the northern coasts of 

 Eastern America, is not uncommon on the Pacific, throughout Cali- 

 fornia and Oregon, at a higher latitude than it is commonly observed 

 on the Atlantic. It was frequently noticed by the naturalists of the 

 Expedition, and the specimens in the collection present no distinctive 

 characters from others obtained in the Southern States on the At- 

 lantic. 



Mr. Peale observes : 



" Specimens were obtained at Gray's Harbor, on the northwest 

 coast of America, and this bird was again met with in the Bay of 

 San Francisco, in California. Young birds are not purely white like 

 the old ones, which have black primary quills, but they have more or 

 less brown in their plumage, particularly on their wings. The young ^ 

 are destitute of the elevated ridge of the upper mandible, which in- 

 creases with their age, and is a strong characteristic of the species." 



Dr. Pickering especially notices this bird as having been seen at the 

 mouth of the Sacramento River, California, in considerable numbers. 



2. Pei^ecanus fuscus. Linn. — The Brown Pelican. 



Pdecanus fuscus, LiNN. Syst. Nat. I, p. 215 (1766). 

 Felecunus carolrncnsis, Gm. Syst. Nat. I, p. 571 (1788). 



Edw. Birds, Plate XCIII; Buflf. PI. Enl. 957; Aud. B.of Am. Plate 

 CCLI, CCCCXXI ; oct. ed. VII, Plates CCCCXXIII, CCCCXXIV. 



This species is also frequently mentioned by the naturalists of the 

 Expedition, and appears to be abundant on the coast of the Pacific. 

 Mr. Peale states with reference to this bird : 



" Common on the northwest coast of America. We saw large flocks 

 of this species in the Bay of San Francisco, in California, and also in 

 the Bay of Callao, in Peru. It may always be distinguished by its 

 peculiar mode of plunging from the air into the water, in pursuit of 

 fishes, an exploit common in this bird, but which we have never seen 



