PEL 
character: snout elongated; mouth be- 
neath; pectoral fins large; ventral fins sin- 
gle-rayed; body compressed downwards, 
mailed ; abdomen divided with bony seg- 
ments. There are three species. P. draco 
is found in the seas of India, and is about 
three inches long, and distinguished by hav- 
ing its pectoral fins of so extraordinary a 
size, that it is enabled by them to maintain 
a short flight on the surface of the water : 
in this respect resembling the exocoeti, and 
several other fishes. The two other species 
are also found in the Indian .Seas. 
PELARGONIUM, in botany, crane’s 
bill, a genus of the Monadelphia Heptan- 
dria class and order. Natural order of 
Gruiuales. Gerania, Jussieu. Essential 
character : calyx five-parted, the upper 
segment ending in a capillary, nectarife- 
rous tube, running along the peduncle ; co- 
rolla five-pet.illfcd, irregular ; filaments ten, 
unequal, three of which are castrated ; fruit 
five-grained, beaked ; beak spiral, bearded 
within. There are eighty-two species ; al- 
most all of them are natives of Afiica, par- 
ticularly those which are shrubby, come 
from the Cape of Good Hope. 
PELECANU.S, the pelican, in natural 
history, a genus of birds of the order .4n- 
seres. Generic character : 'bill straight, 
hooked at the point ; nostrils in an almost 
obliterated furrow; face almost naked of 
feathers , gullet naked, and capable of great 
distention , four toes, all webbed together. 
There are thirty species, of which we shall 
notice the following : 
P. onocrotalus, or the great pelican, is 
sometimes of the weight of twenty-five 
pounds, and of the width, between the ex- 
treme points of the wing.s, of fifteen feet ; 
the skin, between the sides of the upper 
mandible, is extremely dilatable, reaching 
more than half a foot down the neck, and 
capable of containing many quarts of water. 
This skin is often used by sailors for to- 
bacco-pouches, and has been occasionally 
converted into elegant ladies’ work-bags. 
About the Caspian and Black Seas, these 
birds are very numerous, and they are 
chiefly to be found in the warmer regions, 
inhabiting almost every country of Africa. 
They build in the small isles of lakes, far 
from the habitations of man. The nest is a 
foot and a half in diameter, and the female, 
if molested, will remove her eggs into the 
water till the cause of annoyance is re- 
moved, returning them tlien to her nest 
of reeds and grass. These liirds, though 
living principally upon fishes, often build in 
PEL 
the midst of desai ts, where that element is 
rarely to be found. They are extremely 
dexterous in diving for their prey, and after 
having filled their pouch, will retire to some 
rock, and swallow what they have taken at 
their leisure. They are said to unite with 
other birds in the pursuit of fishes. The 
pelicans dive, and drive the fish into the 
shallows. The cormorants assist, by flap- 
ping their wings on the surface, and form- 
ing a crescent, perpetually contracting, they 
at length accomplish their object, and com- 
pel vast numbers into creeks and shallows, 
where they gratify their voracity with per- 
fect ease, and to the most astonishing ex- 
cess. 
P. occidentalis, or the American pelican, 
is about the size of a goose ; of this bird it 
is reported, that it will bring supplies of 
food to any disabled and diseased compa- 
nion ; and that the natives of the island of 
Assumption, by confining one near the 
shore, frequently induce others to make 
these generous presents, which are fraudu- 
lently converted to the purpose of food for 
the islanders. 
The red-backed pelican. One of these 
was in the possession of Mr. Latham, and 
was found, on an experiment purposely 
made, to store away ten fishes, weighing 
a pound each, in its pouch, arranging them 
with the head towards the throat. It then 
marched away to swallow them at its lei- 
sure; the pouch being extended nearly 
down to its feet. 
P. aquilus, or the man of war bird, is 
small in body, but between the extremi- 
ties of the wings fourteen feet in width. It 
is seldom seen but within the tropics, and 
not unfrequently is observed two hunched 
leagues from land. It watches the move- 
ments of fishes from a very considerable 
height, and pounces upon them with unfail- 
ing success, returning from its immersion 
with equal rapidity. It also often obliges 
other birds to quit the prey which they 
have just made, and are flying off with, and 
seizes it as it drops from them with a dex- 
terity truly admirable. During the move- 
ments of flying fishes over the surface of 
the sea, which are previously indicated to 
this bird by the bubbling of the water : it is 
one of their most vigilant and fatal enemies. 
P. carbo, or cormorant, is nearly as large 
as a goose, is found in many places both of 
the old and the new world, and is to be met 
with in the northern parts of this island, 
and one of them was, not very long since, 
shot as it was perched on the Castle of Car- 
