THE FRIGATE PELICAN. 73 



take up their abode on some high tree, for the night, and would 

 remain in a state of torpid stupidity during the greater part of 

 the succeeding day, were they not roused by that voracious ap- 

 petite which seems with reluctance to compel them away." 



This habit of indolence attends the pelican in every situation , 

 for it will not be at the pains of forming a nest, and the female 

 drops her eggs in the ground. Her young seem, however, to 

 call forth the powers of affection ; for Labat informs us, that he 

 tied two of them by the leg to a post, and the old one came to 

 feed them with great regularity. The native Americans kill 

 these birds in great numbers ; for although the flesh is too coarse 

 to be eaten, their pouches, when dry, are converted into bags or 

 purses, and frequently embroidered for the use of the ladies. 



With all its native indolence, the pelican is susceptible of in- 

 struction in a domestic state. Father Raymond says, he has 

 seen one so tame and well-educated among the native Ameri- 

 cans, that it would go off in the morning to fish, when com- 

 manded, and at night return to its master with its great pouch 

 distended with the plunder it had taken, — a part of which it was 

 compelled to disgorge, and was permitted to keep the rest for 

 itself. The pelican, as Faber relates, is not destitute of other 

 qualifications. " One," says he, " which was brought to the 

 court of the Duke of Bavaria, where it lived forty years, seemed 

 to be possessed of uncommon sensations. It was much delighted 

 in the company and conversation of men," (this does not seem 

 compatible with its supposed solitary and melancholy character,) 

 " and in music, both vocal and instrumental ; for it would will- 

 ingly stand by those that sung or sounded the trumpet ; and, 

 stretching out its head, and turning its ear to the music, listened 

 very attentively to its harmony, though its own voice was little 

 pleasanter than the braying of an ass." The pelican is a bird 

 remarkable for its longevity: and Gesner tells us, that the Em- 

 peror Maximilian had a tame one, which lived above eighty 

 years, and always accompanied his army on its march. 



THE FRIGATE PELICAN 



Is chiefly met with between the tropics : it is about the size 

 of a large fowl. It is often found above a hundred, or some- 

 times two hundred leagues from land ; and sometimes settles on 

 the masts of ships. Its extraordinary expansion of wing, which 

 is not less than fourteen feet, enables it to take those immense 

 flights. When it. is unsuccessful in fishing, it attacks the gulls, 

 and other water-fowl, and by compelling them to disgorge the 

 fish thev have taken, indemnifies itself for its own ill success. 

 8* G 



