THE PELICAN. 215 



and alighting at the mouth of the river Don, assert 

 that the Pelicans take the Cormorants into partner- 

 ship on these occasions ; the Pelican extending its 

 wings and flapping the water, while the Cormorant, 

 diving below, drives the fish to the surface; and when, 

 by their joint exertions, the shoal is driven into the 

 shallows, and easily taken by the Pelicans, the Cor- 

 , morant helps himself out of his companion's wide 

 pouch. The very respectable writer *, on whose au- 

 thority we state this latter part, gives some further 

 account of the concealment of their eggs, which, how- 

 ever extraordinary at first sight, is so well borne 

 out by the instinctive habits of some other birds, 

 that there is no reason for doubting its truth. He 

 says, that if disturbed while sitting, they will hide 

 their eggs in the water, taking them out with their 

 bills when they believe the danger to be over. 



We can vouch for the fact of sea-birds feeding 

 on fish, forced above the surface by the lower part 

 of the shoal, having witnessed a singular scene 

 off the Hebrides during the herring season. A 

 whale of the smaller species (Delphinus deductor^) 

 was observed pursuing a shoal of herrings about half 

 a mile off. The fish were evidently in a state of 

 alarm, and it was equally evident that a prodigious 

 flight of Gulls, Gannets, and all the host of sea- 

 birds, were aware of what might happen, as they 

 hovered over the spot screaming, and now and then 



* Dr. E. D. Clarke's Travels. 



\ The northern coasts were much frequented by this 

 whale about that time ; at Kirkwall Bay, in Orkney, we saw 

 the remains of no less than ninety-two, which had been re- 

 cently driven on shore in a heavy gale. 



