THE WADING AND SWIMMING BIRDS. 185 
Fig. bo ato Tern, 
its surface with a velocity perhaps unsurpassed by any 
bird. 
299. The last family of the Natatores, the Pelicans, are 
distinguished by the length of the hind toe and its union 
with the other toes in the web, as seen in Fig. 147. With 
this extent of web they are great swimmers; and yet 
they often perch on trees, which the length of the hind 
toe enables them to do. The edge of the bills is gener- 
ally toothed, by which they can hold securely the fish 
which they take. The true Pelicans, from which the 
whole family is named, have a large pouch of skin hang- 
ing from the lower mandible, which serves them as the 
cheek-pouches do the Monkeys. 
300. The Cormorant, Fig. 153 (p. 186),1is one of this 
family. 'The sac is so small in the case of this bird that 
it can not be called a pouch. There is a powerful hook 
on the end of its upper mandible. It is an excellent div- 
er, and actually gives chase to fish under water, seldom 
coming up without a victim. It is a very voracious an- 
imal. Waterton gives the following account of this bird’s 
operations in the water: ‘ First raising his body nearly 
perpendicular, down he plunges into the deep, and, aft- 
er staying there a considerable time, he is sure to bring 
up a fish, which he invariably swallows head foremost. 
Sometimes half an hour elapses before he can manage to 
accommodate a large eel quietly in his stomach. You 
