American White Pelican, Pelecanus americanus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 88.
424. 2. Pelecanus fuscus, Linn. Brown Pelican.
Plate CCLI. Male. Plate CCCCXXI. Young.
Bill greyish-white, tinged with brown, and marked with irregular spots of pale carmine; bare space between the bill and the eye deep blue, eyelids pink, gular pouch greenish-black; feet black; hair-like feathers on the fore part of the head light yellow, the rest of the head white; a stripe of the same margining the pouch to the middle of the neck; a short space between these two lines anteriorly, and the whole of the posterior and lateral parts of the neck dark chestnut-brown, the small crest paler; back and wings dusky, each feather with the central part greyish-white; the latter colour prevailing on the scapulars and larger wing-coverts; primaries and coverts brownish-black, secondaries greyish-brown; their outer edges greyish-white; tail light grey, shafts of quills and tail-feathers white, unless toward the end; lower parts brownish-grey; sides of the neck and body with narrow longitudinal white lines; on the fore neck, below the dark chestnut spot a smaller pale yellow mark, behind which the feathers for a short space are blackish-brown. Young in second plumage with the bill greyish-blue, its edges and unguis greyish-yellow; gular pouch dull greyish-blue; bare space around the eye dusky blue; head and neck dark brown, as are the upper parts generally; secondary and many of the smaller coverts margined with pale brown; primaries and their coverts, as well as the tail-coverts, brownish-black, with white shafts; feet and claws dull leaden. Tail of twenty-two feathers.
Adult, 52, 80.
Very abundant and constantly resident from Texas along the shores eastward to North Carolina. Breeds on trees and also on the ground; eggs three.
Pelecanus fuscus, Bonap. Syn. p. 401.
Brown Pelican, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 476.
Brown Pelican, Pelecanus fuscus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 376; v. v. p. 212.
Bill longer than the head, opening beyond the eyes, straight, elongated, conical, moderately compressed; upper mandible, with the dorsal line, straight and declinate, at the end convex and a little decurved; the ridge very broad, convex, with a slight median carnia, and separated on each side from the sides, which are perpendicular, slightly convex, and have an additional narrow-jointed piece below the eye; edges sharp, direct, irregularly serrate with numerous slender cuts directed backwards, tip compressed, a little decurved, rather acute; lower mandible with the angle extremely long and narrow, the dorsal line straight, ascending, the sides erect, convex, the edges sharp and serrated, the tip compressed, acute. No external nostrils. Head large, neck of moderate length, and very thick; body of moderate bulk, rather elongated. Feet short, strong, placed rather far behind; tibiæ concealed; tarsus very short, rounded before, sharp behind, scaly, with three lines of small transversely oblong scutella, which run down the toes, the latter long and slender, all united by membranes having their margins straight; first toe rather small, directed inwards and forwards; middle toe longest, the outer almost equal. Claws of moderate size, slightly arched, that of the third toe pectinate. Plumage generally close, rather compact, on the head and neck blended. Wings very long, narrow, acute; first quill longest. Tail rather long, cuneate, of twelve or fourteen feathers. Gular sac small, with a small median portion bare; tongue extremely small, blunt; œsophagus extremely wide; proventricular glands forming a broad belt partially divided by intervals; stomach extremely small, its muscular coat thin, the inner soft; intestine of moderate length, slender; cœca very small; cloaca globular.
425. 1. Sula Bassana, Linn. Common Gannet.