PELECANIN^. 
Atagen.* 
Bill  longer  than  the  head,  broad  at  the  base,  with  the  culmen  depressed,  concave,  and  suddenly 
hooked  and  acute  ; the  sides  compressed  and  grooved ; the  lateral  margins  dilated  on  the  sides  near  the 
base  ; the  nostrils  basal,  lateral,  linear,  placed  in  the  lateral  groove,  and  scarcely  visible.  Wings 
extremely  long  and  narrow,  with  the  first  two  quills  the  longest.  Tail  very  long  and  strongly  forked. 
Tarsi  very  short,  one  third  shorter  than  the  outer  toe,  much  compressed,  and  half  covered  with  feathers. 
Toes  long,  all  united  by  a strongly  indented  web,  the  lateral  ones  unequal,  the  outer  one  the  longest,  and 
the  hind  toe  half  the  length  of  the  middle  one ; the  claws  moderate  and  curved.  The  throat  naked, 
and  capable  of  being  dilated  into  an  extending  pouch,  from  near  the  tip  of  the  lower  mandible  downwards 
to  the  breast. 
It  is  chiefly  within  the  tropics  that  these  birds  are  found.  They  are  usually  observed  smoothly  gliding  through  the 
air,  with  the  motions  of  a kite,  at  an  enormous  distance  from  the  land;  sustaining  these  vast  rapid  flights  with  the 
greatest  apparent  ease  even  against  the  strongest  gales,  and  sometimes  soaring  in  flocks  so  high  as  to  be  scarcely  visible. 
They  frequently  skim  the  surface  of  the  waves,  or  hang  suspended  with  their  wings  still  elevated  above  the  back ; and? 
thus  hovering,  when  at  length  they  espy  a fish  (especially  the  flying  fish,  as  it  rises  from  the  waves  to  escape  from  its 
pursuers  in  the  deep),  they  dart  upon  it  with  the  utmost  rapidity,  and  generally  with  succes ; then  ehecking  their 
career,  and  flying  upwards  again  with  extraordinary  dexterity,  by  the  aid  of  their  forked  tails  and  lengthened  Avings. 
These  birds  attack  gulls  and  other  marine  birds  with  their  Avings  and  bills,  and  oblige  them  to  relinquish  their  prey,  oi' 
even  to  disgorge  that  which  they  have  SAvallowed;  when  so  eager  and  alert  are  they  in  the  pursuit,  as  to  catch  the  pr®y 
before  it  falls  into  the  sea.  They  are  sometimes  seen  perched  on  trees  or  on  high  rocks ; and,  when  on  the  ground, 
appear  to  be  unable,  Avithout  great  efforts,  to  rise  into  the  air.  From  the  nature  of  their  plumage,  it  is  supposed  that 
they  never  swim  or  even  rest  on  the  surface  of  the  waves.  They  collect  in  numbers ; and  deposit  in  nests  on  trees, 
rocks,  or  even  on  the  ground,  from  one  to  two  eggs. 
1.  A.  Aquila  (Linn.)  Planches  enlumin.  96I.,  Spix,  Av.  Bras.  ii. 
t.  105.,  Banks,  Icon.  ined.  28.,  Vieill.  Gal.  des  Ois.  t.  274.  — 
Pelecanus  leucocephalus  et  P.  Palmerstoni  Gmel,  Kittl.  Kupf. 
Nat.  der  Vogel,  t.  20.  f.  1,  2. ; P.  minor  Gmel.  Edwards’s  Birds, 
pi.  SO9. 
2.  A.  Ariel  (Gould’s  MSS.) 
* This  division  was  originally  proposed  by  Moehring,  under  above  the  name  in  1752.  Between  1799  and  1800,  Cuvier  used 
Fregata  ; while,  in  1816,  Vieillot  employed  Tachypetes. 
January,  1845. 
