Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 15, NIC-PAR

ORNITHOLOGY.
509
Aoseres.
:ELECA-
arctic circle. Called quaker by the sailors, on ac¬
count of its brown plumage.
Gen. 38. Pelecanus, Pelican.
'397 Bill straight, bent at the point, and furnished with a
Characters. nail : the nostrils form an almost obliterated slit;
face somewhat naked ; legs balancing the body equal¬
ly 5 the four toes connected by a membrane.
The pelicans are gregarious, fond of fish, and in ge¬
neral remarkable for their extreme voracity. For the
most part they keep out at sea, but some of them are
likewise found in the interior parts of continents.
They have all a long bill, in a lateral furrow of which
lie the nostrils. Several of the tribe are rendered use¬
ful to mankind by being taught to fish.
„ A. Bill without teeth.
39s
bnocrota- White or common pelican.—White $ gullet pouched ;
bill irom fifteen to sixteen inches long, red ; upper man¬
dible depressed and broad, the lower forked ; bag at the
throat flaccid, membranaceous, capable of great disten¬
sion irides hazel j gape of the mouth wide; head
naked at the sides, covered with a flesh-coloured skin ;
hind-head somewhat crested ; body faintly tinged with
flesh colour; spurious wings and first quill feathers
black j legs lead colour. Larger than a swan, and
about five feet long. Inhabits Asia, Africa, and South
America. In fishing, this bird docs not immediately
swallow its prey, but fills its bag, and returns to the
shore to devour at leisure the fruits of its industry. As
it quickly digests its food, it has generally to fish more
than once in the course of the day. At night it retires
a little way on the shore to rest, with its head resting
against its breast. In this attitude it remains almost
motionless, till hunger calls it to break off its repose.
It then flies from its resting-place, and raising itself
thirty or forty feet above the surface of the sea, turns its
head, with one eye downwards, and continues to fly in
that posture till it sees a fish sufficiently near the surface,
when it darts down with astonishing swiftness, seizes it
with unerring certainty, and stores it up in its pouch.
It then rises again, and continues the same manoeuvres,
till it has procured a competent stock. Clavigero in¬
forms us, that some of the Americans, to procure a
supply of fish without any trouble, cruelly break the
wing of a live pelican, and after tying the bird to a tree,
conceal themselves near the place. The screams of the
wounded and confined bird attract others of its kind,
which eject for it a portion of provisions from their
pouches. As soon as the men observe this, they rush to
the spot, and after leaving a small quantity for the bird,
carry oft the remainder. The female feeds her young
with fish macerated for some time in her bag. The pe¬
lican is susceptible of domestication, and may even be
trained to fish for its master. Faber mentions an indi¬
vidual of this species which was kept in the court of the
duke of Bavaria above forty years, and which seemed
to be fond of the company of mankind, and of vocal
and instrumental music. When a number of pelicans
and corvorants are together, they are said to practise a
singular method of taking fish. They spread into a
large circle, at some distance from land 5 the pelicans
flapping on the surface of the water with their extensive
wings, and the corvorants diving beneath, till the fish
contained within the circle, are driven before them to- Anseres.
wards the land 5 and as the circle contracts by the birds —v—“■
drawing closer together, the fish at last are brought into
a small compass, when their pursuers find no difficulty in
filling their bellies. In this exercise they are often at¬
tended by various species of gulls, which likewise ob¬
tain a share of the spoil. The pelican generally builds
in marshy and uncultivated places, particularly in islands
and lakes, making its nest, which is deep, and a foot
and a half in diameter, of carices, and lining it with
grass of a softer texture. It lays two or more white
eggs, which, when persecuted, it sometimes hides in the
water. When it builds in dry and desert places, it
brings water to its young in its bag. It walks slowly,
flies in flocks, and lives in society with other birds.
Bose-coloured pelican.—Rosy j gullet pouched; bill Rosem.
and legs black ; area of the eyes naked ; pouch yellow.
Size of a goose. Inhabits Manilla. 400
Frigate pelican, or frigate bird.—Tail forked ; body Aquilus.
and orbits black ; bill red ; belly of tbe female white.
Three feet long; extent of the wings fourteen feet.
Inhabits within the tropics. This is the frigate bird
of Dampier and other navigators. From its great ex¬
panse of wing, it is capable of flying very smoothly,
and so high as to be scarcely visible, remaining much
in the air, and remote from land. It feeds on fishes,
particularly flying fish, on which it darts with the
greatest velocity. It not unfrequently likewise preys
on other piscivorous animals. It builds in trees or on
rocks, and lays one or two eggs of a flesh colour, and
spotted with red. 401
Lesser frigate pelican.—Tail forked ; body ferrugi- Minor.
nous ; bill and orbits x’ed. Resembles, the last, but less.
Corvorant.—Tail rounded ; body black ; bead some- Qarbo.
what crested ; bill blackish ; the base of the lower man¬
dible covered with a yellowish skin, extending under the
chin, and forming a pouch ; irides green ; chin white,
surrounded with a yellowish areh ; tail long and lax,
consisting of fourteen feathers ; thighs with a white spot,
dotted with black ; legs black. Three feet long; size
of a goose, but more slender, and weighs about seven
pounds. Inhabits Europe, Asia, and America. Com¬
mon on many of our sea-coasts, building its nest on the
highest parts of cliffs that hang over the sea, and lay¬
ing three or more pale green eggs, about the size of
those of a goose. In winter these birds disperse along
the shores, and visit the fresh waters, where they com¬
mit great depredations among the fish. They are re¬
markably voracious, and have a very quick digestion.
Though naturally extremely shy and wary, they are stupid
and easily taken when glutted with food. Their smell,
when alive, is more rank and offensive than that of an\T
other bird, and their flesh is so disgusting, that even the
Greenlanders will hardly taste it. It is not uncommon to
see twenty of these birds together, on the rocks of the
sea coast, with extended wings, drying themselves in the
wind. In this attitude they sometimes remain for near¬
ly an hour, without once closing their wings; and as
soon as the latter are sufficiently dry to enable the
feathers to imbibe the oil, they press this liquor from
the receptacle on their rumps, and dress the feathers
with it. It is only in one particular state that tbe oily
matter can be spread on them, namely, when they are
somewhat damp; and the instinct of the birds teaches
them the proper moment. Corvorants were formerly
sometimes