The PELICANS (Pelecani), the largest and most striking members of this order, are at once recognisable by their enormous beak, furnished underneath with a capacious bag, and strongly hooked at its extremity. The upper mandible, which is remarkably depressed from its origin to its apex, is moderately broad, and rounded at the point; the culmen forms a conspicuous keel, running along the entire length of the upper jaw, and at its termination bends down to form the strong claw-like hook at the extremity. The lower mandible is exceedingly weak and slender, consisting of two long lateral branches, only joined to each other towards the apex, and enclosing between them a very capacious bag, formed by a dilatable expansion of the throat. In comparison with the above most characteristic features, the rest of the structure of the bird is to the ornithologist of secondary importance; it is, however, very peculiar. The body is large and cylindrical, the neck long and slender; the feet are small, toes long, and connected by a broad web. In the large broad wing, the third quill exceeds the rest in length; the tail, which is short, broad, and rounded, consists of twenty or twenty-four feathers. The plumage is thick, but remarkably hard and stiff; besides the almost naked sac beneath the throat, there is a considerable space around the eye completely denuded of feathers. The two sexes resemble each other very closely, but considerable differences serve to distinguish the old birds from the young.
Pelicans inhabit the torrid regions of the earth, but are also found to a considerable distance within the limits of the temperate zone. In their habits and mode of life, the different groups nearly resemble each other, and we shall therefore confine ourselves to a description of two species met with in Europe.
None but those who have travelled in Egypt and North Africa can form any idea of the vast numbers of fish-eating birds that there crowd the shores of every lake and river. Upon all the Egyptian lakes along the course of the Nile, during the period of its inundation, and still further to the south, along the banks of the Blue and White Nile, as well as on the shores of the Red Sea, Pelicans occur in such immense flocks that the eye is unable even to estimate their extent. Over a considerable surface of country they literally cover the quarter, or the half, of every square mile. When they are swimming out upon the lakes, they look like immense beds of water-lilies. When they come out of the water to sit upon the shore, more especially if it be upon one of the islands, and sit in the sunshine preening their feathers, they look at a distance like a vast white wall, and when they retire to sleep, all the trees upon the island are so thickly covered with them that they have the appearance of blossoms without a single green leaf. To meet a small flock of about ten or a dozen is an unusual occurrence, but to see hundreds or thousands together is a very ordinary spectacle. As the spring approaches, these enormous hosts are in some measure broken up. Many which during the winter season congregated together make their way to Southern Europe, where they breed, but numbers of them are left behind. In selecting the place of their sojourn, these birds seem to make no difference between salt water and fresh; they frequent both in almost equal numbers, but the depth of the water is to them a matter of considerable importance.
[Pg 236]
Only a single American species obtains its food by diving, the others are altogether too lightly built to render such a mode of fishing practicable. They lie upon the surface of the water as if they were made of cork, and it is only in shallow water, to the bottom of which they can reach with their long neck and hooked bill, that they usually fish for food. For this purpose they assemble together in some place where water is of the proper depth, arranging themselves with considerable regularity, so as to enclose a large space, which as they advance forward is gradually diminished. In large lakes and shallows by the sea-shore they arrange themselves in a semicircle, and row themselves gradually towards the beach, or else they form a complete circle, the diameter of which diminishes as they advance towards each other. In narrow rivers or canals they divide into two parties, and arrange themselves in close ranks facing each other, thus enclosing a space in which their prey is to be procured, as the two lines swim in opposite directions until they meet. In general these birds feed only on fishes, but not unfrequently they catch other vertebrate animals. Young birds, for example, that happen to approach them too closely are seized and swallowed, and even half-grown Ducks occasionally disappear down their capacious throats in an equally unceremonious manner. When on dry land the gait of these birds is slow and waddling, nevertheless they can scarcely be said to walk badly, and notwithstanding their webbed feet, they readily perch upon trees; they swim well, and their powers of flight are excellent. The daily life of the Pelicans is conducted in a very regular manner; the early hours of morning are employed in catching food, and they may then be seen hastening from all quarters to their fishing-ground, in small or large parties, the former flying in single file, the latter in the well-known V-shape adopted by many birds of passage. Some parties may soon be seen returning from the water, satisfied with their meal, while others are making their way towards the shallow bay from which their breakfast has to be procured. Towards ten o'clock a.m. they begin to congregate upon their favourite sandbank, or an inland group of trees, and here they repose after their toil, some lazily digesting their food, and others more actively employed in oiling and preening their feathers, a proceeding in which they are occupied for a considerable length of time, their long unmanageable bill being but little adapted to the work. When this is accomplished, they take a kind of siesta, some perched on trees, others on the ground, the former generally sitting bolt upright upon the branches, with their necks thrown back, and their beak resting on their breasts, while the latter generally lie flat on their bellies, and doze away the noontide hours. Between three and four o'clock the whole assembly begins to wake up and prepare for another fishing excursion, in which they are engaged till sunset, after which they at once set off to their sleeping-places, situated on a lonely sandbank, or some island covered with trees, upon the branches of which they pass the night. As to the breeding of these birds, we have been able to collect little from personal observation; it appears, however, by no means unlikely that in the interior of Africa some of them may build their nests in the trees, to which they so frequently resort. In Southern Europe, as Von der Muhle informs us, they select morasses and lakes for their breeding-places. In some of these lakes, says our informant, floating islands are to be met with, which are only approachable with great difficulty, and upon these they build their rudely-constructed nests, as close to each as other they can well be placed. The nests themselves are constructed of reeds and sedges, trodden together into a mass, and are generally damp or even wet. The whole neighbourhood is covered with their filth, the stench of which, added to that of the putrid fishes, which are everywhere strewn about, is at this hot season of the year, absolutely unbearable. Strangely enough they do not all breed at the same time, for brooding females are often sitting in the immediate vicinity of fledged young birds; indeed, Freyberg, who has often visited these breeding-places, informs us that in the same nest he has seen a nearly-fledged young one, and another as yet only covered with down, a circumstance only to be explained by supposing that two females had laid their eggs in the same nest. The usual number of eggs, as we are told by Bädecker,[Pg 237] is from three to five. Those that have been observed in a state of captivity have only laid two. In proportion to the bird the eggs are of small size, being not so large as those of a Swan; their shape is more or less elongated, with both ends of equal size, their colour is blueish white, but their external surface remains for some time soft and pasty, and a layer of dirt, which sticks to them after they have been sat upon, renders it impossible to clean the shell. The young present nothing particular in their appearance, save that they are disgustingly filthy, nevertheless, their parents seem affectionately attached to them, and will suffer themselves to be captured rather than desert their charge.
THE PELICAN (Pelecanus onocrotalus). ONE-SEVENTH NATURAL SIZE.
THE WHITE PELICAN.
The WHITE PELICAN (Pelecanus onocrotalus), the commonest and most widely distributed species, is one of the largest members of the natatorial order. In this bird the general colour of the body is white slightly tinged with rose-red; the primary quills being dark brown; the front of breast[Pg 238] is yellow, upon the top of the head the feathers are much elongated, so as to form a long streaming crest. In young birds the mantle is brown mingled with grey, the under side dark grey. The eye is bright red, and the bare space around it yellow; the beak is grey speckled with red and yellow; the bag beneath the bill veined with yellowish blue; the feet are bright flesh-red. This species is from fifty-five to sixty-two inches long, and ninety to one hundred broad; the wing measures about twenty inches; and the tail about six inches and a half. The White Pelican principally inhabits the tropical climates of Africa and India, but is also found in the Mediterranean, on the extensive lakes of Hungary and Russia, and on the eastern rivers of Europe. In Southern Europe it appears about the end of April or beginning of May, returning to its winter quarters after the breeding season. Occasionally these birds miss their way and make their appearance in Germany, greatly to the astonishment of the inhabitants of the districts so visited. In Hungary they usually arrive in flocks of some four or six hundred individuals; these immediately disperse throughout the country for the purpose of breeding; after the period of incubation they again assemble in flocks previous to taking their departure. This species subsists on all kinds of fish, which it catches with facility, and with such sharp-eyed vigilance, that not even the smallest escapes its observation. It is unable to dive, and therefore only searches for food in small and shallow inlets of rivers. It occasionally ascends to some height in the air, and descrying a fish from on high, darts upon it with unerring aim.