THE 
CHINESE PELICAN. 
Generic Character. 
Bill long, strait, hooked at. the end. 
Nostrils small, in an obscure furrow. 
Face naked. 
Toes all four united by a web. 
Specific Character. 
Brown PELICAN, with white throat, the body 
whitish beneath and spotted with brown ; 
the tail rounded ; the irides blue. 
Staunton s Chinese Embassy , 2. p. 388. 
The art of training some particular species of this 
genus to the practice of fishing for the profit of their 
owners appears to have originated among that in¬ 
dustrious people the Chinese, who are in the habit 
of turning every object to as much advantage as 
possible. It was not however till the period of the 
late embassy to China that the real species used for 
this purpose became known to Europeans. The bird 
is about the size of a common goose, but is of a 
thinner form, and resembles, except in colour, the 
European Shag and Corvorant. When used for fish- 
K 2 ing, 
