336 
VERTEBRATA. 
pairs like swans above his licad, ratlier low ; and adds that they are also seen flying in large flocks 
like those birds. Hasselquist saw it at Damietta in Egypt. He also adds, in his chapter on the 
arrival there of migrating birds, that it comes to Egypt in the middle of September. " In flying," 
says he, "they form an acute angle, like the common wild geese when they migrate. In the 
summer they inhabit the Black Sea and coasts of Greece ; and in their migration remain for a 
few days near Smyrna and other parts of the coasts of Natolia, but never stray far from the con- 
tinent ; they fly very high. Some of them remain at Damietta, and in the islands of the Delta in 
the Mediterranean, but the greater part go to Egypt." They appear in some of the Egyptian 
drawings on the ancient monuments. 
The American Pelican, P. ery Ihrorhynclms, held by many to be identical with the preced- 
ing, and greatly resembling it, is found in various parts of America, in Florida, Louisiana, Missis- 
sippi, Missouri, Utah, California, the West Indies, the isthmus of Panama, &c. In the Fur Coun- 
tries it is met with up to latitude 01° north, but is seldom found within two hundred miles of the 
sea-coast. They deposit their eggs usually on small rocky islands in lakes and rivers, or on the banks 
of cascades where they can scarcely be approached, but still are by no means shy. They live to- 
gether generally in flocks of from six to fourteen, and fly low and heavily, sometimes abreast, at 
others in an oblique line ; and they are often seen to pass close over a building, or within a few 
yards of a party of men, without exhibiting any signs of fear. For the purpose of surprising their 
prey, they haunt eddies near water-falls, and devour great quantities of carp and other fish. They 
can only swallow, apparently, Avhen opening the month sideways and somewhat upward like the 
shark. When surfeited with food, they doze on the water, or on some sand-shoal projecting into 
or surrounded by it, where they remain a great part of their time in gluttonous inactivity digest- 
ing their overgorging meal. At such times they may be easily captured, as they have then great 
difficulty in starting into flight, particularly if the pouch is loaded with fish. They sometimes, 
though rarely, perch on trees. 
The Brown Pelican, P.fusciis, is smaller than the preceding, being about four feet long, and 
confined exclusively to the warmer parts of the coast of America, being common in the Southern 
States, Mexico, and the West Indies, and the northern parts of the continent of South i^merica. 
Its habits are similar to those of the preceding. 
There are some other species, all resembling those we have described, in their habits. 
CORMORANTS, GANNETS, FRIGATE BIRDS, TROPIC BIRDS, ETC. 
The Cormorants are large, greedy, and powerful water birds, widely distributed over the globe. 
They are usually found at sea, yet frequently in the neighborhood of fresh waters, and feed upon 
mollusca and fishes, especially eels, which they pursue under "water with the greatest activity. 
They fly well, and often perch and make their nests on trees ; but the nest is also frequently con- 
structed on the ground or in the holes of rocks, according to the situations inhabited by the birds. 
When fishing, they often rise to the surface with the fish across the bill, throw it up into the air, 
and catch it again with the head foremost, so as to swallow it with greater facility. According 
to Mr. Waterton, the struggle betw'een a cormorant and a large oel often lasts a considerable time 
before the bird can dispose comfortably of its prey. After the eel has been got down for the first 
time, it frequently struggles violently to release itself from its disagreeable quarters, and continues 
to wriggle up backward until a considerable portion of its tail is visible at the cormorant's mouth ; 
and this process may be repeated two or three times before the victim becomes so exhausted as 
to submit quietly to its fate. In some cases, however, it appears that when the cormorant finds 
his prey is so large as to threaten to be troubtesome, he takes the precaution to disable it, by tak- 
ing it to the shore and beating it about wnth his bill. 
Genus PH ALACROCORAX : Phalacrocorax. — To this belongs the Common or Black Cormo- 
rant, P. carbo — Graculus carbo of Gray — size of a goose ; three feet long. The nests are made of 
sticks, sea-weed, grass, and other coarse materials, sometimes on the banks of rivers, and sometimes 
on trees. It is common on the shores of Greenland, where the natives make use of its tough skin for 
garments, and of its pouch as floats for their fishing tackle. It is also found along the coasts of 
Europe, Asia, and those of America from Baffin's Bay to the Carolinas. It is a most dextrous 
