THROUGH WILD EUROPE 61 



to the nesting-places of the Dalmatian Pelican 

 (Pekcanus crispus). I had come out with the 

 intention of finding, and photographing if possible, 

 this Pelican, and also the other European Pelican, 

 P. onocrotalus, as well as the rare and beautiful Great 

 White Heron (Ardea alba). 



I suppose that, comparatively speaking, few of those 

 who see the Pelicans solemnly sitting round their 

 small pond in the gardens of the Zoological Society 

 have any idea that these great birds, so curious in 

 their structure and appearance, are still inhabitants 

 of Europe in this twentieth century. We think of 

 them almost instinctively as the ( Pelican of the 

 wilderness,' and associate with them the idea of vast 

 African lakes and the fever-laden banks of remote 

 tropical rivers, where the crocodiles crawl among 

 the mangrove stems, and stretch their scaly bodies 

 along the steaming mud-banks. 



Needless to say, they are only to be found in the 

 most out-of-the-way parts of Wild Europe, far from 

 the haunts of man, and very far from any remnants 

 of civilization. This I was, of course, prepared for, 

 but the reality far exceeded my anticipations ; and 

 before I succeeded in photographing these birds at 

 home I was fated to spend a whole month in the 

 search, my travels being extended considerably 

 farther than I had expected. 



Yet this can hardly be considered a disadvantage. 



