290 THE PELICAN. 



was supposed to be the bird intended ; in fact, I have 

 heard that the representation (which I am very anxious 

 to see) is much more like a flamingo than a pelican. 

 Again, a flamingo is much more a bird of the wilderness 

 than the pelican, seeing that the pelican requires a 

 good supply of fish, while the flamingo can live 

 and does well upon very small insects, seeds, and little 

 fry, and is found in places in which the pelican would 

 starve." 



This communication naturally drew forth some com- 

 ments. Mr. Houghton, in a long letter to the editor of 

 the same journal, dated 24th April, 1869, says: "That 

 this is the origin of the old story of the pelican feeding 

 its young with its blood seems very plausible. I purpose 

 to examine this ingenious idea, and to offer a few remarks 

 on the old fable. It is commonly supposed and you 

 will often find it so expressed in works on natural history 

 that this fable is a classical one. This is an error : I 

 have searched in vain amongst classical authors for any 

 allusion to the pelican feeding its young with its blood. 

 To the Greeks this bird was known by the name of ireXtKav, 

 or TreAticac, or irtXtKivos, though it would appear that some 

 species of woodpecker was also intended by the word 

 ireAfKae (see Aristoph. Aves, 1155). Aristotle mentions 

 pelicans two or three times in his ' History of Animals ; ' 

 he speaks of their migratory habits and flying in crowds. 

 He says they take large shell-fish into their pouches (iv 



