THE WHITE PELICAN.
The White Pelican is as large as a Swan. Its bill is about fifteen inches in length. Its plumage is white, with a slightly rosy tint, the crest and a few feathers on the neck yellowish.
It is very common on the lakes and rivers of Hungary and southern Russia, as well as on the banks of the Danube. A wild rocky shore, where it can look down on the sea, is the favorite haunt of this Pelican; but it is not uncommon for it to perch on trees. The nest is formed of coarse reedy grass, with a lining of finer quality; it is generally made on the ground, and is about eighteen inches in diameter, in which it lays four, sometimes five, white eggs, but more frequently two, slightly oblong, and alike at both ends. Fish forms its principal food, which it captures chiefly in shallow inlets, as it is an indifferent diver. Occasionally its flight is lofty, but generally close to the surface of the water.
THE BROWN PELICAN.
The Brown Pelican is an American species, smaller than the preceding. It has the head and the neck variegated with white and ash-color; all the rest of the plumage of a brownish grey, with white marks on the back; the pouch is of an ashy blue, striped with a red hue. It is found on the coasts of Peru, Florida and South Carolina.
Although heavy-looking on the wing, this species is capable of performing flights of immense distance, and to a certain extent may be considered migratory. In winter they are seldom seen beyond the edge of the tropics, but in summer they are frequently found as far north as the thirty-sixth degree of latitude. Extremely wary and difficult of approach, they are seldom shot, although persistently pursued by fishermen, on account of the immense damage they do to the spawn and young Fish.
They are also possessed of the greatest powers of vitality, and resist death when pierced with wounds so serious that they would inevitably kill any other species.
From this circumstance doubtless they receive the name of Die-hards from the residents that dwell on the margin of the Gulf of Mexico. When disabled from taking flight, their courage in defending themselves from an assailant is as remarkable as that of the Bittern; but being possessed of superior size and strength to the latter Bird, the Brown Pelican can successfully resist the strongest Dog.
Like the other species of this genus they live in small communities of twenty or thirty members, and build their nests upon the ground closely adjoining each other, and the utmost good fellowship, almost affection for each other, exists between them. The young Birds remain with their parents till the spring following their birth, the old ones driving them off to seek new homes, when the advance of the season tells them that they must provide a home for a coming family. As in many other races, the plumage of the young is much darker and less handsomely marked than in the adults. From frequent persecution, the Brown Pelican has of late years much diminished in numbers.