288 THE PELICAN. 



the subject of the supply of food provided by several 

 species of birds for their young, I have collected many 

 interesting facts showing that in some instances the 

 parents prepare by partial digestion, and in others by 

 the addition of a secreted nutritive substance, the food 

 intended for the support of their offspring. The one 

 which I am about to relate I was certainly not prepared 

 to expect ; nevertheless, such facts as I now lay before 

 you have caused me no little astonishment, as they appear 

 to me to afford a solution to the well-known and ancient 

 story of the Pelican in the Wilderness. I have heard that 

 the so-called fable originated, or is to be found, on some 

 of the early Egyptian monuments (I do not know where), 

 but that the representations are more like flamingoes than 

 pelicans. I have published elsewhere, in the ' Proceedings 

 of the Zoological Society/ for March 1 869, what I consider 

 to be the facts of the case, and take this opportunity of 

 referring to the matter. The flamingoes here in the gardens 

 have frequently shown signs of breeding, and have been 

 supplied with heaps of sand to form their nests, but 

 without result ; nevertheless they appear to take con- 

 siderable notice of a pair of Cariamas in the same aviary. 

 These birds have a habit of bending back their heads, 

 and with open gaping mouths utter loud and somewhat 

 distressing sounds. This habit at once attracts the 

 flamingoes, and very frequently one or more of them 

 advance towards the cariamas, and standing erect over 



