62 WATER-BIRDS IN THEIR HOMES. 



lion rampant, a lion couchant, a pelican "in her piety," a 

 peacock " in his pride." 



In such a device the pelican was represented above a nestful 

 of young with upturned bills, her own head turned down upon 

 her breast. She was the symbol of fostering care and self- 

 sacrifice, for, so the fable ran, she fed her young with the 

 life-blood drawn from her own breast. It is a pretty tale, 

 though untrue, and may have arisen from a curious error in 

 observation. 



Those mediaeval heralds were poor naturalists, never careful 

 to see all they might, and perhaps unable to approach very 

 near to so shy a bird as the pelican. Thus what they thought 

 they saw was all one to them with what they actually did see. 

 If you notice, the pelican in her piety is usually painted with 

 the beak and the talons of a hawk instead of with webbed feet. 

 The state seal of Louisiana which bears a pelican in her piety 

 does not fall into this old error perhaps because pelicans live 

 in Louisiana and the people there know how they look. 



It may interest any child living near one of our large parks 

 to see how the heralds made their mistake. Watch the old 

 pelicans sunning themselves, standing erect, with their long, 

 straight bills laid low on their white breasts, and their pale 

 eyes squinting at you across their noses. The pelican of 

 Europe has a pinkish bill with a bright red nail at the tip. 

 The heralds, having seen this at a distance as it lay against the 

 white plumage, called it a streak of blood; whence rose the 

 fable of the pelican " in her piety." Much poor natural his- 

 tory has become current because men did not see things as 

 they are. 



A far more interesting and curious characteristic of our Amer- 

 ican white pelican may be observed by any child who will take 

 the pains to make a few trips to the park. Go first in early 



