42 
PELICANS 
head with purplish green crests; neck with loose white filaments; flank 
with large circular white patch; head and body dark glossy green, 
changing to rich purple on neck and purplish green on wings ; quills and 
tail black. Post-breeding plumage: crests, white filaments, and white 
flank patch wanting. Young : dusky brown, lighter on head ; upper parts 
darker, with a tinge of green. Wing: 10.00-11.40, tail 6.25-8.50, bill 
1.70-2.10. 
Distribution. — Coast of Alaska and British Columbia to Washington. 
Nest. — Usually on a ledge of bold-faced rock, large, made of seaw eed, a 
few grass-stalks, and excrement. Eggs : 3 to 4, pale blue to white. 
The Eskimo use this cormorant’s skin for clothing, and the white 
filaments from the flanks for fringes in their ornamental work. 
123b. P. p. resplendens ( Aud .). Baird Cormorant. 
Coloration as in pelagicus , size smaller, bill nearly as long, but slenderer. 
Wing: 9.30-10.50, tail 5.80-7.00, bill 1.65-2.00. 
Distribution. — Pacific coast from Cape Flattery to Mazatlan, Mexico. 
The Baird cormorant is usually less common than the Farallone 
or Brandt cormorants, breeding apart from them in communities on 
the islands or rocky points off shore. 
FAMILY PELECANIDiE: PELICANS. 
GENUS PELECANUS. 
General Characters. — Bill much longer than head, upper mandible flat; 
a large pouch of elastic, naked skin hung as a fish-net from flexible sides 
of lower mandible. 
KEY TO SPECIES. 
1. Color mainly white. erythrorhynchos, p. 42. 
1'. Color mainly grayish brown. californicus, p. 43. 
Subgenus Cyrtopelicanus. 
125. Pelecanus erythrorhynchos Gmel. American White 
Pelican. 
Tail feathers 24. Breeding plumage : mainly white, primaries and most 
of secondaries black; back of head with thin white or yellowish crest, breast 
and lesser wing coverts with narrow lanceolate yellowish feathers; upper 
