THE PELICAN. 415 



elevation of an actual mass of herrings above the water, 

 that the poor frightened creatures had closed within the 

 smallest compass, and by the upheaving struggles of the 

 lower stratum of the shoal, were thus unwillingly ex- 

 posed to greater dangers in another element; for, avail- 

 ing themselves of this eventful moment, down came the 

 birds with one simultaneous pounce upon the dense 

 mass. Shortly after, the dark fin would again appear, 

 and a bright jet of glistening foam, rising like a foun- 

 tain, announced that the animal was under the necessity 

 of breathing or blowing after his labours. Then again 

 he would descend headlong, with a sort of recruited 

 spring, exhibiting nearly his whole body, and giving the 

 water a tremendous lash with his tail as it disappeared. 

 The sound produced by this crash upon the waves was 

 astounding enough in itself, but the effect of the blow 

 was far more so; for, whether by a sort of sculling 

 ^notion it scooped and threw a mass of herrings upwards 

 with a jerk, or whether they were fairly driven from tho 

 water with the cloud of foam which followed the blow, 

 the air for some feet above the water was spangled with 

 bright specks of herrings, on which the united host of 

 birds again pounced, forming one mingled mass of her- 

 rings, sea-fowl, and foam. 



In the West Indies, it appears that some of the 

 species of Pelicans are able to immerse their bodies ; 

 and, after diving and bringing up their pouches full of 

 fish, will good-naturedly allow the Parasite Gulls (so 

 called from being in the habit of living on the labour of 

 others), to settle on their heads, and partake of the 

 spoil*; a fact, in great degree corroborating the Russian 

 account of the Cormorants, just mentioned. If the 

 Pelicans of the West Indies permit themselves to be 

 made into resting-places for other birds, those of the 

 Eastern world consider themselves equally privileged to 

 make resting-places for themselves on the bodies of 

 animals. On the banks of the river Tigris in Asia, the 



* Transatlantic S^cicJ,es. 



