434 THE EMPIRE OF THE AIR. 



great flat /\f\ which is outlined by his extended wings and body. This 

 is the disposition of parts which gives him that equilibrium, length- 

 wise, which his rudimentary tail could not furnish. 



His mode of flight is magnificent. He rows but seldom, for as soon 

 as the wind permits he becomes a sailing bird. 



The effect produced by great mass is always surprising. If a bird 

 be large and has adequate surface, he practices sailing flight, as wit- 

 ness the pelican, who has less surface, i^roportionally, than the teal, 

 and yet soars to i)erfection, while the other only rows. The teal is 

 l)ro])ortioned at 1 gram per 177 square millimetres (1 pound for each 

 O.S(> S(piare feet), and the x)elican at the rate of 1 gram per 150 square 

 millimetres (1 pound for each 0.73 square feet). 



When in full flight he does not stretch out liis neck a yard in front, 

 like the goose, the stork, the swan, but he curves it back like the 

 heron, and rests his head gently upon his shoulders, which attitude 

 gives him a peculiarly graceful api)earance. He then seems so much 

 at his ease, he appears so comtortably i)osed upon his two immense 

 wings, set at picturesque angles, that once well launched he seems to 

 glide through space without the least fatigue. 



Of all the large birds he is certainly the one which presents the 

 juost elegant silhouette. The great vulture is rigid, and looks as if 

 cut out of tin plate: the swan and the goose have an attitude as if 

 already spitted; the eagle is stiff' and all of a i)iece, but the pelican, 

 notwithstanding his awkward heaviness when on the ground, becomes 

 as graceful as a gull once he has mounted in the air. The varied atti- 

 tudes of his wings, the great length of their arm and forearm, offer 

 every moment new aspects which the evolutions of other birds never 

 present. 



In point of intelligence the pelican is among birds what the elephant 

 is among mammals. Like the latter animal, a boundless curiosity 

 attracts him to man. The doings of the sovereign of creation interest 

 him profoundly. The attention which he bestows upon all movements 

 is a sure sign of great intelligence. 



He will not, like the large birds of prey, morosely assume a gloomy 

 state of sulks, beginning with his captivity and ending with his death; 

 he will not go crouch in a corner and motionless ponder on his lost 

 liberty — not a bit of it. After two or three days, if, without looking at 

 him or apparently noticing him in any way, you are occupied in doing 

 something, he will not let half an hour pass befoie he is between your 

 legs, the better to observe ycmr actions. Every now and then he will 

 stretch out that frightful bill of his, but there is no need of extra 

 guard; all there is to do is not to draw the hand back, because it might 

 be cut against the saws of his numdibles. AVhen he sees no reply to 

 his overtures he will become almost troublesome in his familiarities; 

 he will come into the house as if it were his own, he will i)ick fleas off' 

 the dogs, he will ]>ui-loin a- shoe, he will make way with ;i l)all from the 

 billiard table with an air of perfect innocence; and he Avill not even 



