BIRDS WEB-FOOTED DIAGRAM 4 



83 



OEDEE OF WEB-FOOTED BIBDS. 



The yidh have a powerful flight ; they live on the borders of 

 th sea, and make their nests in holes on inaccessible rocks. 

 They have fine white plumage, which makes them very con- 

 spicuous on the wing ; and they feed chiefly on fish. When a 

 storm threatens, the gulls fly restlessly backwards and forwards, 

 uttering shrill cries which the sailors well understand. It is not 

 rare to see them carried inland by the wind, and flying in places 

 very far from the sea ; but they hasten to return to the coast. 

 When they are fatigued at sea, they rest on the waves ; and 

 they can swim as well as they can walk and fly. (Foot of 

 web-footed bird, see p. 64.) 



The cormorants are dull-coloured birds, which live like the 



gulls by the seaside, and feed like 

 them on fish. The cormorants 

 stand on a rock, and remain 

 motionless until they perceive 

 their prey, when they dart into the 

 water and seize it. The cormo- 

 rant can be tamed, and used to 

 catch fish; but a collar must 

 then be fastened tightly round 

 his neck, and not being able 

 to swallow the fish, he brings 

 Cormorant. it back. 



The pelican is not found in Britain, though it is met with in 

 some parts of Southern Europe. It also lives on fish, but it 

 generally fishes in rivers ; it has an enormous beak, and below 



that, a great elastic pouch in 

 which it puts the fish before 

 swallowing it, or when it 

 wishes to bring it to its young. 

 The pelican has a fine white 

 Head of Pelican. plumage ; but when it returns 



