286 
STE G A/VO POD O US BIRDS. 
very different. In the skeleton the furcula is welded to the breast-bone, as in the 
cormorants; but the vertebrae of the back differ from those of the latter in having 
saddle-shaped, instead of ball-and-socket surfaces for articulation with one another. 
All the bones, and likewise the integuments, are penetrated to a most remarkable 
extent by air-cavities. Pelicans, of which there are some half-score of kinds, are re¬ 
stricted to the tropical and warmer regions of the globe, where they have a very wide 
distribution. They are all very similar in general appearance and habits, although the 
American white pelican (Pelecanus trachyrhynchus ) differs from the rest in being 
an expert diver. The common European pelican (P. onocrotalus), as the best known 
representative of the genus, will serve to illustrate the habits of all. It belongs to 
a group characterised by the feathers of the forehead extending forwards in a point 
on to the upper part of the beak. During the breeding-season the back of the 
head carries a somewhat elongated crest; the upper mandible is reddish at the base 
and yellowish at the tip, with a line of crimson along the middle, while the lower 
mandible is pale red, and the pouch and naked space round the eye, as well as the 
feet, are flesh-coloured. Of the plumage, the primaries and bastard-wing are black ; 
the long feathers on the front of the lower part of the neck yellow; and the 
remainder white, with a tinge of rose-colour. The tail has eighteen feathers. In 
birds of the first year, the plumage is a uniform greyish brown, the lanceolate 
feathers of the breast being wanting; and it is not till some years that the full 
plumage is acquired, the depth of the rose tint being most marked during the 
breeding-season. This species, which attains a length of about 5 feet, inhabits the 
more southern parts of Europe and Northern Africa; while it also occurs in West 
Africa at Senegambia and Mozambique. While common in Hungary, the Crimea, 
Egypt, and the.Ionian Islands, it only occurs occasionally in France and Algeria. In 
India there is a rather smaller form (P. minor') distinguished by the presence of a 
long pendent crest at all seasons; this form also ranging over Greece, Egypt, 
Abyssinia, and Western Africa. As to whether the common Bengal pelican is 
identical with the European species, there is some doubt. The other European 
species is the crested pelican (P. crispus), which belongs to the group in which the 
feathers of the forehead are truncated in front and terminate more or less squarely 
on the base of the beak. In this species the general plumage is white tinged 
with grey, the wing black, and the feathers of the crown and back of the head 
crinkled and elongated into a large crest. The eye is silver-white, the beak 
greyish yellow above, the pouch blood-red shaded with blue, and the foot black. 
Fossil pelicans occur commonly in the Miocene deposits of Europe, and also in the 
Pliocene of Northern India. 
„ Pelicans commonly occur in enormous flocks in the neifrlibour- 
hood of swamps, estuaries, and rivers, and are sometimes so numerous 
that in India Mr. Hume speaks of having seen miles of them. Their food is 
mainly fish, of which they consume immense quantities, but crayfish have been 
taken from the stomach of the American species. In fishing they generally select 
water of sufficient depth to swim in, but which is not too deep to prevent them 
touching the bottom when swimming with their heads beneath the surface. In this 
posture a flock will frequently form a line or horseshoe, each bird stationed about 
a yard from its neighbour, and will fish the water in a most regular and systematic 
