THE EASTERN WHITE PELICAN. 
239 
at all ages is spotless. Judging also from specimens which I examined 
in the Paris^ Strasburg, and Leyden museums^ the adults seem to have 
the vinous or rufous back and rump throughout the year^ not at the 
breeding-season only as P. manillensis has. 
The Spotted-billed Pelican is a constant resident in Burmah^, but is 
more abundant from October to February than at other times. It breeds 
in vast numbers in the tract of country lying to the west of the Sittang 
river and just north of Paghein. The breeding-season commences at the 
end of October. The nest is a large structure made of sticks and placed 
in a very high tree near the top, and from three to twenty pairs of Pelicans 
make their nests on the same tree. The eggs^ three in number^ are white 
and very chalky in texture. 
Pelicans generally congregate in immense flocks^ swim well^ and live 
entirely on fish. They cannot dive ; and their mode of catching fish is to 
range themselves in a double or even a treble line and beat the water 
with their wings. Progressing forward at the same time^ they drive the 
fish towards the banks where the water is shallow and then scoop them up' 
into their pouches. They fly exceedingly well_, and after the morning 
feed is over they mount high into the air and circle round at a vast height 
for some hours together. They frequently perch on trees ; but they are 
incapable of walking far. 
The two Pelicans that occur in Burmah may be discriminated at a 
glance by the formation of the feathered portion of the forehead : in P. 
manillensis the frontal feathers terminate in a concave line ; in P. roseus 
the frontal feathers come to a sharp point. 
607. PELECANUS EOSEUS. 
THE EASTERN WHITE PELICAN. 
Pelecanus roseus, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 570. Pelecanus javanicus, Horsf, 
Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 197 ; Jerd. B. Lid. ii. p. 857 ; Sclaier, P. Z. S. 1868, 
p. 268 ; Elliot, P. Z. S. 1809, p. 581 ; Salvad. Ucc. Bom. p. 363 ; BL B. Burm. 
p. 164 ; Hume ^ Bav. S. F. vi. p. 494 ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 116. Pelecanus 
mitratus, Licht. Ahhandl. Akad. Wiss. Berl. 1838^ p. 436, t. iii. f . 2 ; Jerd. B. Lnd. 
ii. p. 856 ; David et Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 531 ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 116. Pele- 
canus onocrotalus, apud Jerd. B. Lnd. ii. p. 854 ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 116. 
Pelecanus minor, apud Gates, S. F. x. p. 247. 
Description. — Bird of the year. Crest not more than half an inch long^ 
composed of soft loose feathers ; a line of feathers down the hind neck of 
the same character; head and neck tinged chestnut; the whole lower 
plumage deep chestnut ; upper plumage dingy white, the centres of the 
