THE BROWN PELICAN. 149 



pocket is stuffed full of good things to eat. The 

 squirrel and the gopher take nuts or pansy-roots, 

 as the case may be, and off they trudge to their 

 young ones. Pelican takes nothing but fish, and 

 flies with it. 



It is said that a pelican never eats a fish until 

 it has been stored in its knapsack for some time. 

 When the knapsack is full, the pelican snatches 

 one more fish, and flies away with it across its 

 beak. 



The hawk sometimes watches at the fishing- 

 places, and when the pelican goes home, follows 

 it. Suddenly, hawk swoops down with a great 

 flourish of alarm, and frightens poor pelican, so 

 that he opens his mouth to scream. Out drops 

 the fish, and hawk flies off with it, no doubt laugh- 

 ing, if hawks do laugh, at the good joke. And 

 maybe he tells the story to his friends around the 

 camp at night. 



The pelicans nest on many of our Pacific coast 

 islands. The nests are placed on the ground in 

 the most retired spot, and made of a great mass 

 of seaweed and rubbish. Father pelican goes off 

 with his fish-basket to bring home the provisions, 

 while mother pelican is occupied with the nest 

 and eggs. There is a legend that the pelican 

 mother feeds her young with drops of blood from 



