WHITE PELICAN
125. Pelecanus erythrorhynchus. 5 feet.
White with black primaries. Eye white; bill and feet yellow, the former
in the breeding season being adorned with a thin upright knob about
midway on the top of the upper mandible. The large pouch, with which
pelicans are armed, is used as a dip net to secure their food, which
consists of small fish. The White Pelican scoops up fish as he swims
along the surface of the water; when he has his pouch partially filled,
he tilts his head, contracts the pouch, thereby squeezing the water out
of the sides of his mouth, and swallows his fish.
Nest.—Of sticks and weeds on the ground on islands or shores of inland
lakes. They breed in colonies, and lay their eggs in June. The two or
three eggs are pure white (3.45 × 2.30).
Range.—Breeds in the interior from Utah and Minn. northward. Winters on
the Gulf coast and in Florida; rare on the Atlantic coast.
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BROWN PELICAN
126. Pelecanus occidentalis. 4.5 feet.
Pouch greenish; eye white; back of neck in breeding season, rich velvety
brown; at other seasons the whole head is white. These pelicans nest
abundantly on some of the islands on the Gulf coast of the U. S., on
Pelican Island on the east coast of Florida, and sometimes on the coast
of Georgia and South Carolina. Like the White Pelican, this species
lives chiefly upon small fish, but they procure them in a different
manner. They are continually circling about at a low elevation above the
water and, upon sighting a school of fish, will plunge headfirst into
it, securing as many as possible.
Nest.—Either on the ground or in low trees, in the latter case being
more bulky than in the former; composed of sticks and weeds. The three
to five eggs that they lay are pure white with the chalky covering
common to eggs of birds belonging to this order.
Range.—Breeds on the Gulf coast, and on the South Atlantic, north to
South Carolina; later may casually stray to New England; winters on the
South Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
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