394 TI1E FRIGATE PELICAN. 



ftight, having its pouch distended with prey; part of which it was 

 made to disgorge, aud the rest it was permitted to retain for its 

 ^rouble. 



According to the account of Fal>er, a Pelican was kept in the court 

 of the Duke of Bavaria alxve forty years. lie says that it seemed 

 fond of being in the company of mankind; and that when any one 

 sang or played on an instrument, it would stand perfectly still, turn 

 its ear to the place, and, with its head stretched oat, would seem to 

 pay the utmost attention. We are told that the Em)>eror Maximilian 

 had a tame Pelican that lived more than eighty years, ajid always 

 attended his soldiers when on their marches. M. de Saint Pierre 

 mentions his having seen, at Cape Town, a large Pelican playing 

 with a great dog, whose head she often, in her frolic, took into her 

 enormous beak. 



When a number of Pelicans and Corvo rants are, together, they are 

 said to have a very singular method of taking fish. They arrange 

 themselves in a large circle, at some distance from land: and the 

 Pelicans flap with their extensive wings above, on the surface, while 

 the Corvorants dive beneath: hence the fish contained within the 

 circle are driven before them toward the land ; and as the circle 

 lessens by the birds -coming close together, the tish at last are 

 brought into a small compass, when their pursuers find no dilHculty 

 in filling their bellies. In this exercise they are often attended 

 by various species of gulls, which likewise obtain a share of the 

 spoil. 



THE FRIGATE PELICAN. 



The Frigate Pelican, or Man-of-war Bird is chiefly seen on th 

 tropical seas, and generally on the wing. They are abundant in the 

 Island of Ascension, India, Ceylon and China. In the South Sea 

 they are seen about the Marquesas, Easter Isles and New Caledonh, 

 ,lso at Otaheite. Dampier saw them in great plenty in the island of 

 A.VCS in the West Indies, and they are common off the coast of East 

 Florida, particularly around the reefs or keys, often assembled in 

 flocks of from fifty to a thousand. They are also not uncommon 

 during summer, along the coasts of the Union as far as S>uth 

 Carolina, and breed in various places, retiring to warmer latitudes at 

 the approach of cool weather. 



The Frigate Bird is often seen smoothly gliding through the air. 

 with the motions of a Kite, from one to two hundred leagues from 

 the land, sustaining these vast flights with the greatest apparent ease, 

 sometimes soaring so high as to l>e scarcely visible, at others 

 approaching the surface of the sea, where, hovering at some distance, 

 it at length espies a tish, and darts upon it with the utmost rapidity, 

 and generally with success, flying upwards again, as quick as it 

 descended. In the same manner it also attacks the Boobies and other 

 marine birds which it obliges to relinquish their prey. 



They breed abundantly iu the Bahamas, and are said to make their 



