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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



August, 1907 



The White Pelican 



By B. S. Bowdish 



MONG the great colonies of birds which still 

 exist in some of the wild lake regions of the 

 western States, none, perhaps, is more re- 

 markable or interesting than the white 

 pelican, striking both on account of its large 

 size and the peculiar appearance that its 

 great bill gives it. Involuntarily, as one 

 views the great birds, either in their native 

 haunts or in the zoological gardens, one 

 wonders how they came to be what they 

 are, from whence the immense bills and 

 the peculiar structures. Our more mod- 

 ern explanations of structural peculiari- 

 ties take account of the advantages that they may offer 

 to their possessors, and recognize the power of evolu- 

 tion as equal to the task of producing such characters as 

 will best serve the needs. The conditions in which a crea- 

 ture lives thus affect its structure, even though it be very 

 slowly, and in some cases the ancestral forms which are 

 plainly traceable to certain species were vastly different from 

 their present-day descendants. In the case of the pelican, 

 however, fossil remains of the species of long ago are prac- 

 tically the same as our present birds. 



The white pelican has been rather more difficult than the 

 brown one to cultivate acquaintance with. Nevertheless, it 

 has been studied in its home, and its habits in the zoological 

 gardens have been observed. It combines a body that is 

 smaller than its thick coat of feathers would lead one to sup- 

 pose, with lightness of structure and immense wing area in 

 relation to its weight. The expanse of wings of the white 



pelican is sometimes nine feet. The bones, like those of 

 other creatures, are hollow and light, and the body is pro- 

 vided with interior air-sacs, giving additional lightness and 

 buoyancy. On the water not a third of the body is sub- 

 merged, and it seems to be with difficulty that the birds 

 submerge themselves in diving for their prey. This, how- 

 ever, is not a handicap, since they seem to find an abundant 

 supply of food near the surface. Because they are so buoyant 

 they swim easily, riding the waves for hours, when they so 

 desire. I have seen the brown pelicans plunge head down- 

 ward from a considerable height, striking the water with a 

 resounding whack, like wind-bags, and even then not more 

 than half submerging themselves. On the wing, pelicans are 

 capable of sailing for long stretches, with wings held rigid, 

 and they often skim the water thus, following the undulating 

 contour of the waves. Pelicans secure their prey both by 

 plunging from a height, while flying, and by snatching it up 

 while swimming. The upper mandible is strong, but light, 

 the hooked tip serving as a guard against the escape of fish, 

 while the lower mandible is simply a light frame which sup- 

 ports the pouch. As the bill is opened in grasping the prey 

 the sides of this frame are bowed outwardly by the action 

 of a set of muscles for that purpose, the tip being contracted, 

 and the mandible and pouch becoming a very serviceable dip 

 net. 



The water is readily expelled from the apertures at the 

 sides, while the upper mandible, resting across the middle 

 of the lower, prevents the escape of the fish. 



Most very young birds are fed with predigested food re- 

 gurgitated by the parent from its crop, the parent's bill, dur- 



Characteristic Attitudes Assumed by Pelicans 



