Order VIII. ANSERES.
Family II. Pelecanid^e.
The third Subfamily,
PELECANINiE, or Pelecans,
have the Bill lengthened, slender, depressed on the culmen, the sides much compressed, and the tip
hooked, and more or less compressed ; the Nostrils placed in the lateral grooves, and scarcely visible ;
the Wings lengthened and pointed ; the Tail rather short, and generally wedge-shaped ; the Tarsi short
and robust ; the Toes lengthened, with the outer one equalling the middle one, and all four united
together by a membrane. The lower mandible and throat furnished beneath with a membranous pouch,
more or less capable of extension.
SULA.*
Bill longer than the head, robust, straight, broad at the base ; with the sides compressed, and grooved
towards the tip, which is slightly curved, and the lateral margins obliquely and unequally serrated ; the
nostrils basal, lateral, linear, placed in a lateral groove and almost invisible. Wings long, pointed, and
tuberculated, with the first two quills the longest. Tail moderate and graduated. Tarsi short, one
third shorter than the outer toe, rounded anteriorly and keeled posteriorly. Toes lengthened, the outer
and middle ones nearly equal, and all four connected by a full membrane ; the claws moderate and
rather flat, with that of the middle toe serrated, and the hind claw rudimental. Beneath the base of the
lower mandible is a naked space, reaching towards the breast, that is capable of expansion.
The birds of this division are usually found in immense numbers on desert and rocky islands near the main land,
migrating, in parties of from five to fifteen individuals, to the warmer parts on the approach of winter. They are 1 rarely
observed on the surface of the sea, and when there they seem only to float, but are never known to dive, though
furnished with strongly webbed feet. They are almost constantly on the wing, flying with a powerful, rapid, and
buoyant flight, which can be supported for a lengthened period, and keeping at no great distance from the shore, even
during their migrations. Their food consists principally of those fishes which usually swim near the surface, upon
which they dart from a great height, headlong into the sea, making the water foam and swell with the violence of the
concussion. The fish is swallowed head foremost, and the gullet is capable of expanding sufficiently to allow the passage
of the largest herring. The nest is composed of masses of sea weeds and other materials, which the birds select on the
rocky cliffs. The female deposits one large egg.
1. S. bassana (Linn.) Briss. PI. enl. 278. 98fi. — Pelecanus
macalatus Gmel. ; P. punctatus Sparr. ; Sula alba Temm.
2. S. rapensis Licht. — Sula melanura Temm.
3. ? S. daetylatra Less. Zool. de la Coqu. ii. p. 49-1.
4. S. piscator (Linn.) — Sula Candida Steph.; S. erythrorhyncha
Less. ; S. rubripes Gould.
5. S. cyanops Sunder. Isis, 1842.858. — Sula australis Gould;
Pelecanus serrator Banks, Icon. ined. 30., Forst. Tcon. ined. 107-
6. ? S. fiber (Linn.).
7. S./uscu Vieill. Gal. des Ois. t. 277 Pelecanus Sula Linn.
Catesb. Car. pi. 87- ; Sula brasiliensis Spix, Av. Bras. t. 107. ; Sula
australis Steph.
8. ? S. parva (Gmel.) PI. enl. 973.
9. S. plotus Forst. Desc. Anim. p. 278. et Icon. ined. 108.
10. S. variegata Tschudi, Wiegm. Archiv. 1843. 1. 390.
11. ? S. leucophrra Stepb. Gen. Zool. xiii. 106.

• Establisbed by Brisson ( Or nithologie) in 176*0. In 1811, Illiger changed it to Dysporus; and, in 181(3, Vieillot used Morus, and