AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN (PLATE CCCXI)

Pelecanus erythorhynchos JW 36 fine, fresh impression, an unobtrusive crease across the lower right part of the subject, two small tears in the margin at left sheet 38 by 25 5/8 in.; 967 by 650 mm. Based on a composition painted perhaps in Florida in 1831 or 1832. "Ranged along the margins of the sand-bar, in broken array, stand a hundred heavy-bodied Pelicans... they rise on their columnar legs, and heavily waddle to the water... drive the little fishes toward the shallow shore, and then, with their enormous pouches spread like so many bag-nets, scoop them out and devour them in thousands." See color illustration opposite "Conditions of Sale".