74 FABLES ABOUT PELICANS. 



They speed o'er heathy mountain rude, 

 On some waste marsh's solitude, 

 To the tall grass or bristling reed 

 Their wild unnestled young to breed." 



The species of Pelican which inhabits the shores of the Black 

 and Caspian Seas is the Common (Pelicanus Onocrotalus). We must 

 not pass unnoticed this well-known wader, which has for ages been 

 invested with an atmosphere of song and fable, and which is specially 

 remarkable for the bright yellow membranous pouch attached to the 

 lower mandible of his long robust bill. This pouch, says Broderip, 

 will hold a considerable number of fish, and thus enables the bird to 

 dispose of the superfluous quantity which may be taken during fishing 

 excursions, either for his own consumption or for the nourishment of 

 his young. " In feeding the nestlings and the male is said to sup- 

 ply the wants of the female, when sitting, in the same manner the 

 under mandible is pressed against the neck and breast, to assist the 

 bird in disgorging the contents of the capacious pouch ; and during 

 this action the red nail of the upper mandible would appear to come 

 in contact with the breast, thus laying the foundation, in all proba- 

 bility, for the fable that the pelican nourishes her young with her 

 blood, and for the attitude in which the imagination of painters has 

 placed the bird in books of emblems, with the blood spirting from the 

 wounds made by the terminating nail of the upper mandible into the 

 gaping mouths of her offspring. " 



It is usually in the evening or the morning that these birds 

 gather about the lonely shores to fish in company, like a party of 

 sociable Izaak Waltons, and proceeding, as Nordmann remarks, upon 

 a systematic plan, which is apparently the result of a kind of con- 

 certed agreement. They select a suitable station a shallow bay 

 with a smooth bottom. There they arrange themselves in a half- 

 circle, the bill turned towards the ground, and keeping at a distance 

 of from ten to twelve feet. With their wings they beat the water 

 hurriedly, and sometimes plunge in up to their middle, gradually 

 wading towards the beach, and driving the fish before them into a 

 very narrow channel. Now the feast commences, and other birds 



