File:Handbook of birds of eastern North America (1896) (14755225055).jpg

Identifier: handbookofbirdso00cha (find matches)
Title: Handbook of birds of eastern North America
Year: 1896 (1890s)
Authors: Chapman, Frank M. (Frank Michler), 1864-1945
Subjects: Birds
Publisher: New York, D. Appleton and Company
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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Text Appearing Before Image:
rown Pelicans are abundant residents on the Florida and Gulfcoast. They are generally seen in flocks of four to eight birds flyingone after the other. The leader beats time, as it were, and they allflap in unison for a certain number of wing-beats, then sail for a shortdistance, and then flap again. The coast line is their favorite high-way to and from their roosts or nesting grounds. They fly low overthe water just outside the breakers, following the trough of the sea—now disappearing behind the advancing wall of water, now reappear-ing as the wave breaks on the shore.. Unlike the White Pelican, this species secures his prey by diving.Singly, in pairs, or in small flocks, they beat back and forth, generallyabout twenty feet above the water, and when opportunity offers plungedownward with such force that the spray dashes high about them, andthe resulting splash may be heard a half a mile. They sometimescatch fish twelve to fifteen inches in length, but as a rule feed onsmaller ones.
Text Appearing After Image:
1. Baldpate. 6. 2. Green-winged Teal. 7. 3. Blue-winged Teal. 8. 4. Shoveler, 9. 5. Pintail. 10. Wood Duck.Redhead.Canvasback.Am. Scaup Duck.Am. Golden-eye. 11. Bufflehead. 12. Old Squaw. 13. Greenland Eider. 14. White-winged Scoter. 15. Ruddy Duck. MAN-O-WAR BIRDS. 97 Family Fregatid^. Man-o-war Birds. Man-o-war Birds, or Frigate Birds, are found throughout inter-tropical seas. One of the two known species occurs in America. Theyare strictly maritime, and, while sometimes observed at great distancesfrom the land, are met with in numbers only near the coasts. Theyhave a greater expanse of wing in proportion to the weight of theirbody than any other bird, and in power of flight are unsurpassed.They rarely alight upon the water, but, facing the wind, pass hoursresting motionless on outstretched wings, sometimes ascending togreat heights and calmly soaring far above storms. It is when feed-ing that their marvelous aerial powers are displayed to the best advan-tage. By swift, indescribabl

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