NATURAL HISTORY. 381 



fully disposed of, all of a sudden the eel retrogrades upwards 

 from its dismal sepulchre, struggling violently to escape. 

 The cormorant swallows it again, arid up again it comes, and 

 shows its tail a foot or more out of its destroyer's mouth. At 

 length, worn out with perpetual writhings and slidings, the 

 eel is gulped down into the 'cormorant's stomach for the last 

 time, there to meet its dreaded and inevitable fate. This 

 gormandising exhibition was witnessed here by several in- 

 dividuals, both ladies and gentlemen, on Nov. 26, 1832, 

 through an excellent eight-and-twenty guinea telescope, the 

 cormorant being at that time not more than a hundred yards 

 distant from the observers. I was of the party." 



The Cormorant is easily tamed, and its fishing propensities 

 can be turned to good account. The Chinese, at the present 

 day, employ a kind of cormorant for that purpose, having 

 previously placed a ring round the bird's neck, to prevent it 

 from swallowing the fish. The eggs of this bird arc usually 

 laid on the rock, but sometimes in the branches of trees. A thick 

 coat of chalk envelopes the eggs, and can be easily scraped off 

 with a knife. The length of the bird is about three feet. 



THE WHITE PELICAN. 



The WHITE PELICAN inhabits Africa, India, and great part 

 of the south-eastern portions of Europe. It is a very con- 

 spicuous bird, its singular membranous pouch offering a dis- 

 tinction perfectly unmistakeable. The pouch, when distend- 

 ed, holds two gallons of water, but the bird has the power 

 of contracting it so that it is scarcely to be discerned. The 

 pouch also serves as a net, in which to scoop up the fish 

 on which the Pelican feeds.* Another most important use of 

 the pouch is to convey food to the young. The parent Peli- 

 can presses the pouch against its breast, in order to enable 

 the young to obtain the fish, which action, in all probability, 

 gave rise to the fable of the Pelican feeding its young with 

 its own blood. The red tip of the bill probably aided the 

 deception. 



* The beautiful Pelicans in the Zoological Gardens exhibit this pouch and its 

 uses admirably. 



