THE AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN. 



{Pelecanus erythrorhynchos.) 



In the year 1758 the naturalist Linna- 

 eus gave to the birds called Pelicans the 

 generic name Pelecanus. In this genus 

 he also placed the cormorants and the 

 gannets. These with the snake-birds, 

 the frigate-birds and the tropic-birds were 

 for a long time grouped together under 

 the family name Pelecanidae. This name, 

 however, is now restricted to the various 

 species of the Pelicans which are includ- 

 ed in a single genus. 



The generic name Pelecanus and the 

 common name Pelican are derived from 

 pelekan, the Greek name for these birds. 

 They were well known to the ancients by 

 whom they were called Ornacrotalus. 

 There is a legend of great antiquity for 

 which there is no foundation in fact, which 

 states that the pelican feeds to her young 

 blood drawn from her own breast, in 

 which she herself has made the incision. 



There are about ten species of pelicans 

 distributed throughout the world, mostly 

 confined to those countries having warm 

 climates. Two or three species, however, 

 extend their range into the colder re- 

 gions during the summer months. Three 

 of the species inhabit North America and 

 two of these are seldom seen except on 

 the sea coasts ; the brown pelican (Pele- 

 canus fuscus) on the Atlantic coast and 

 the California brown pelican (Pelecanus 

 californicus) on the Pacific coast. The 

 other species is the bird of our illustra- 

 tion, and is common in the interior as 

 well as on the seaboard of California. 



The pelicans are notably social in their 

 habits, a large number nesting together. 

 The flight of a large flock is an attractive 

 sight. Their wings move in unison and 

 apparently without much effort. After a 

 few strokes of the wings they frequently 

 sail, forming graceful circles, often at 

 great elevations. 



The most remarkable characteristic of 



these birds, however, is the large pouch 

 formed by an elastic skin depending from 

 the two sides of the lower mandible and 

 extending nearly the whole length of the 

 bill. This pouch may be greatly distend- 

 ed and will hold a large quantity of either 

 solid or liquid matter. The bills are de- 

 pressed and strongly hooked. 



The American White Pelican ranges 

 throughout the whole of North America 

 as far north, in the interior, as the 6i° 

 north latitude, and as far to the south- 

 ward in winter as Central America. 

 Northward from Florida, along the At- 

 lantic coast, it is now rare. 



In the year 1838 Audubon gave this 

 species the specific name Americanus, in 

 view of his discovery that it differed in 

 essential characteristics from the Euro- 

 pean form, called Ornacrotalus. The most 

 marked difference that he noticed was the 

 crest upon the upper mandible which he 

 supposed was permanent and not, as we 

 now know, a characteristic of this species 

 only during the breeding season. In writ- 

 ing of the naming of this species he uses 

 the following beautiful language : "In 

 consequence of this discovery, I have 

 honored it with the name of my beloved 

 country, over the mighty streams of 

 which may this splendid bird wander free 

 and unmolested to the most distant times, 

 as it has already done in the misty ages of 

 unknown antiquity." 



Much as we desire to honor Audubon, 

 who has given us so much of interest con- 

 cerning the life histories of the birds, yet 

 we are restrained by the rules of scientific 

 naming, which require under ordinary 

 circumstances, the use of the earliest 

 name. Audubon's name was antedated 

 by that of Gmelin, a German Naturalist, 

 who in 1788 noticing the peculiar charac- 

 teristics of the American White Pelican 

 and that it differed from the European 



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