I 



1897] E. E, Prince. — The Pelican. 99 



huge sea-gulls. Nothing could exceed the soaring sweep and 

 grace of these great wheeling birds. Others settled upon the 

 surface of the water and, with head upstream, gradually drifted 

 down with the swift current. 



When swimming the wings are not closed tight upon the 

 body, as in the case of the duck : but are raised up and form a 

 plumed arch above the body. The head is thrown back some- 

 what and the neck curved so that the beak is directed diagonally 

 downward. The bright yellow gular pouch could be readily 

 seen through a field glass. The Indians cut off this pouch 

 when they secure a pelican, and sewing two together they make 

 a quaint but useful pocket for needles, &c. The beak, I ob- 

 served, was moved continually from one side to the other, more 

 especially to the left side, that is, towards the bank of the river, 

 alongside which the birds were drifting. Whether they were 

 driving the fish shorewards or not I could not make out : but 

 they were evidently not feeding. The tip of the beak was 

 merely dipped into the surface of the water as they gracefully 

 floated down below the rapids to the mouth of the river. On 

 reaching the river mouth, several miles below, they are said to 

 fly up to their starting point and once more drift down again, 

 repeating this procedure time after time. They are said to be 

 expert at catching fish, chiefly the fine whitefish which ascend 

 from Lake Winnipeg to the Grand Rapids for spawning pur- 

 poses in September and October. Each fish, as soon as it is 

 caught in the capacious beak, slides into the pouch and then 

 slips down the throat at a single gulp. 



The Indians in the locality charge the pelicans with having 

 driven the whitefish out of the river: but if the fish have dimin- 

 ished in number it is not necessary to seek further for the cause 

 than the action of the Indians themselves who, for years,, have 

 scooped the rapids with dip-nets, and have captured the parent 

 fish in numbers when just about to spawn. There is no better 



