The nest is placed on the ground, and is composed of coarse grass, lined with a softer kind. The two eggs are white. It carefully tends its young, conveying food to them in the singular pouch which, says Shaw, is one of the most remarkable appendages that is found in the structure of any animal. Though it contracts nearly into the hollow of the jaws, and the sides are not (in a quiescent state) above an inch asunder, it may be extended to an amazing capacity, and when the bird has fished with success, its size is almost incredible; it will contain a man's head with the greatest ease. In fishing, the Pelican fills this bag, and does not immediately swallow his prey, but when this is full, he returns to the shore to devour at leisure the fruits of his industry. Audubon gives the following graphic account of the movements of an American species, P. Americanus, which is not only very similar in appearance, but until recently bore the same specific name as the bird above described, thereby creating considerable confusion between it and the White Pelican of the eastern hemisphere. "Ranged along the margins of the sand bar in broken array, stand a hundred heavy-bodied Pelicans, pluming themselves, and awaiting the return of hunger. Should one chance to gape, all open their large and broad mandibles, yawning lazily and luxuriously. But when the red beams of the setting sun tinge the tall tops of the forest trees, the birds rise clumsily on their short legs, and hastily waddle to the water and plunge into the stream. Lightly they float as they marshal themselves and extend their lines; and now their broad, paddle-like feet propel them onwards. In yonder nook the small fry are dancing on the quiet water. Thousands are there, and the very manner of their mirth making the water to sparkle, invites their foes to advance. And now the Pelicans at once spread out their broad wings, press closely forward with powerful strokes of their feet, drive the little fishes towards the shallow shore, and then, with their enormous pouches spread like so many bag-nets, scoop them out and devour them." These birds are altogether diurnal; when gorged, they retire to the shores of small islands in bays and rivers, or sit on logs floating in shallow water at a good distance from the beach, in all which situations they lie or stand close together. The White Pelicans appear to be almost inactive during the greater part of the day, fishing only after sunrise, and again an hour before sunset, though at times the whole flock will mount high in the air, and perform extended gyrations. In the south of Europe the chase after Pelicans is a favourite sport, and by the Arabs their flesh is considered not unpalatable.
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THE GREAT TUFTED OR DALMATIAN PELICAN.
The GREAT TUFTED or DALMATIAN PELICAN (Pelecanus crispus) is white, slightly tinged with greyish red, except upon the quills, which are black. In this species, the head-feathers are long and curly, forming a sort of helmet. The eye is silvery white, beak greyish yellow, bag beneath the throat blood-red veined with blue, and the foot black. The plumage of the young is greyish. The length of this bird is sixty-six inches, breadth one hundred and fourteen inches, the length of wing thirty inches, and tail eight inches. The habitat of the Great Tufted Pelican extends from the Black Sea over all the well-watered districts of Central and Southern Asia; a few penetrate annually into South China and North Africa, but in both these regions they are comparatively of rare occurrence.
The first example known of this bird was shot in 1828 in Dalmatia by Baron Fildegg, and it has been since found by Rüppell and Kittlitz in Abyssinia.
"It arrives," says the baron, "in spring and autumn, giving preference to the neighbourhood of Fort Opus, on the river Naronta, which is bordered with morasses. It comes through Bosnia, seldom alone, but generally in flocks. I have seen as many as twelve together hunting for fish. It is very cunning, and is extremely difficult to shoot."
No particulars are known respecting its habits, nidification, &c., which are supposed to resemble others of its family.
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