FAMILY 



PELECANIDxE. 



J 1 1HIS is an extensive group, and its representatives are found widely distributed along- the coasts and 

 on the inland waters of most large countries of both hemispheres. The various genera and species 

 grouped together under this family afford a wide field for research and speculation, not only to the 

 Ornithologist, but to every student, both scientific and philosophical, of animated nature, from the marvellous 

 developments shown by its members, nearly all of which possess some notable peculiarity adapted to their 

 mode of subsistence and perpetuation. Some other families of the Natatores are represented in Australia 

 by a greater number of species than are found among the Pelecanidce, but members of the latter have all 

 some peculiarly interesting feature to arrest attention. Foremost among them in general interest comes the 

 Great Pelican, the bird which figured as a type of constancy among the early writers, a typical virtue which 

 in these degenerate days is no longer conceded to this respectable bird. No one could fail to be impressed, 

 who has seen the Pelicans in this country, with their wonderfully methodical way of fishing. In the lonely 

 up-country parts, where they come only in small numbers, the Pelicans are looked upon with affection by 

 the settlers ; in such localities the nature-loving bushman rarely shoots them. Their visits are encouraged, 

 and to kill the " three-deckers," as the great birds are called there, is considered shameful ; by some their 

 destruction is even regarded as ill-omened. To this family also belongs the Roseate Tropic-bird, with its 

 strange antics on the wing ; the lover of warmth, the bird which never leaves the zone of vertical sun- 

 rays. Of Gannets we have several varieties ; everyone who has lived on the coast has seen their plunges 

 after prey. The " Boobies," with their unaccountable stupidity, belong also to this genus, and are found 

 on our coasts. The Snake-headed Darter is also a curiosity among birds, with its cunning and agility in 

 the water. The piratical Frigate-Birds, with their matchless speed on the wing and tiny feet, form another 

 interesting group among the PefecanidcB ; and the Cormorants, with their dense plumage to resist their 

 constant immersion, and their curious bills formed for seizing their finny prey, close a notable list of birds 

 of which Australia can boast the possession among her feathered, web-footed inhabitants. 



