PELICAN, Pelle anus, a genus of birds of the family pelecanicka (q.v.), very long, large, flattened bill, the upper mandible terminated by a strong hook, which curves over the tip of the lower one; beneath the lower mandible, which is composed of two flexible bony branches meeting at the tip. a great pouch of naked skin is appended ;,the tongue is very short, and almost rudimentary; the face and throat are naked; the wings of moderate length, the tail rounded. The species are widely distributed, frequenting the shores of the sea, lakes, and rivers, and feeding chiefly on fish. Although birds of powerful wing, they are seldom seen at a great distance from land. All of them are birds of large size. They take their prey by hovering over the water, and plunging upon it when it. appears. They often fly.in large flocks, and the Sudden swoop of a flock of pelicans at a shoal of fish is a striking and beautiful sight. They store up their prey in their pouch, front which they bring it out at leisure, either for their own eating, or to feed their young. The pouch is capable of being wrinkled up into small size, and of being greatly distended. The COMMON PELICAN (P. onocrotalus) is as large as a swan, white, slightly tinged with flesh color, and in old birds, the breast golden yellow. The quill-feathers are black, but are scarcely seen except when the wings are expanded.
It is a native of the eastern parts of Europe, and of many parts of Asia and Africa, and frequents both the sea-coast and also rivers and lakes. It makes a nest of grass on the ground in some retired spot near the water, often on an island, and lays two or three white eggs. The parents are said to carry water to their young, as well as food, in their pouch. During the night, the pelican sits With its bill resting on its breast. The nail or hook which terminates the bill is red, and Mr. Broderip supposes that the ancient fable of the pelican feeding its young with blood from its own breast has originated from its habit of pressing the hill upon the breast, in order the more easily to empty the pouch, when the red tip might be mistaken for blood.—The RUFOUS-NECKED PELICAN (P. fuseds) abounds in the West Indies and in many parts of America. Other species are found in other parts of the world, and in some places the number of pelicans is prodigious, particularly in sonic of the most southern parts of the world.
In heraldry, the pelican is drawn with her wings indorsed, and wounding her breast with her beak. When represented in her nest feeding her young whit her blood, she is called a pelican in her piety.