. The popular natural history . Zoology. 412 THE FRIGATE BIRD. Another well-known British species of this genus is the Crested Cor- morant, Green Cormorant, or Shag, a bird which can at once be distinguished from the preceding species by the green colour of the plumage and the difference in size, the length of an adult male being only twenty- seven inches. In habits this species resembles the common Cormorant. We now arrive at the well-known PEtiCAN, which is universally accepted as the type of the family. This bird is found spread over many portions of Africa and Asia, and is also found in so
. The popular natural history . Zoology. 412 THE FRIGATE BIRD. Another well-known British species of this genus is the Crested Cor- morant, Green Cormorant, or Shag, a bird which can at once be distinguished from the preceding species by the green colour of the plumage and the difference in size, the length of an adult male being only twenty- seven inches. In habits this species resembles the common Cormorant. We now arrive at the well-known PEtiCAN, which is universally accepted as the type of the family. This bird is found spread over many portions of Africa and Asia, and is also found in some parts of Southern Europe. The pouch of the Pelican is enor- mously large, capable of containing two gallons of water, and is emplo) ed by the bird as a basket wherein to carry the fish which it has caught. The Pehcan is a good fisherman, hovering above the water watching for a shoal of fish near the surface. Down sweeps the bird, scoops up a number of fish in its capacious pouch, and then generally goes off home- ward. The nest of the Pelican is placed on the ground in some retired spot, i'ljjtifciix usually an island in the sea, or the ''*^ ' borders of some inland lake or a river. It is made of grasses, and con- tains two or three white eggs. The female sits on the eggs, and her mate goes off to fish for her; and when the young are hatched they are fed b' the parents, who turn the fish out of their pouches into the mouths of the young. The colour of the Pelican is white, with a dehcate roseate tinge like that of a blush rose. On the breast the feathers are elongated and of a golden yellow. The quill feathers are black, and the bill is yellow tipped with n d. The length of the bird is almost six feet, and the expanse of wing about twelve feet. The last bird on our list is the well-known FRIGATE BiKD, Sea Havitk, or Man-of-war Bird, an inhabitant of the tropical seas. It derives its name of Man-of- war Bird from its habit of watch- ing the gannets when they fish, and then sw
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1884
