96 PELICANS.

The White Pelican winters in numbers on the Gulf coast of Florida and westward, but rarely occurs on the Atlantic coast. Its snowy white plumage renders it conspicuous at a great distance, and a far- away Pelican on the water is sometimes mistaken for a distant sail.

The White Pelican catches his food while swimming. A flock of Pelicans will sometimes surround a school of small fry and with beat- ing wings drive them toward the shore, all the time eagerly scooping the unfortunate fish into their great pouches. At the conclusion of a successful “drive” they go ashore or rest quietly on the water and devour their prey at leisure.

They migrate by day—and perhaps by night also—flying at a great height, and sometimes pausing to sail in wide circles far up in the sky.

128. Pelecanus fuscus Linn. BROWN PELICAN. Ad. in breed- ing plumage—Top of the head and a spot on the upper breast straw-yellow; line down either side of the breast white ; hind head, neck, and a spot on the fore neck seal-brown; sides and back silvery gray bordered by brownish black; scapulars, wing-coverts, secondaries, and tail silvery gray; primaries black; under parts dark blackish brown narrowly streaked with white. Ad. after the breeding season—Similar, but with the hind head and whole neck white, more or less tinged with straw-yellow. Ina—Similar to the preceding, but the head and neck grayish and rest of the plumage duller. L., 5000; W., 1960; Tan, 2'65; B., 1100.

Range—Atlantic coast of tropical and subtropical America; breeds abun— dantly along the Gulf coast and northward to South Carolina; occasionally strays to Illinois and Massachusetts.

Long Island, A. V.

Nest. of sticks, in mangrove bushes or on the ground. Eggs, two to five, similar in color to those of the preceding species, 3'00 x 1'95.

Brown Pelicans are abundant residents on the Florida and Gulf coast. They are generally seen in flocks of four to eight birds flying one after the other. The leader beats time, as it were, and they all flap in unison for a certain number of wing-beats, then sail for a short distance, and then flap again. The coast line is their favorite high— Way to and from their roosts or nesting grounds. They fly low over the water just outside the breakers, following the trough of the sea— now disappearing behind the advancing wall of water, now reappear- ing.r as the wave breaks on the shore.

Unlike the White Pelican, this species secures his prey by diving. Singly, in pairs, or in small flocks, they heat back and forth. generally about twenty feet above the water, and when opportunity offers plunge downward with such force that the spray dashes high about them. and the resulting splash may be heard a half a mile. They sometimes catch fish twelve to fifteen inches in length, but as a rule feed on smaller ones.