124 THE PELICAN IN MEXICO. 
portions of the north of the two continents, the 
Pelican takes the place of the Swan, to which 
latter bird, more than to any other, it bears 
resemblance. You will judge for yourselves, 
however, how much less beautiful than the 
Swan, the Pelican discovers itself to the eye; 
while, at the same time, it surpasses it in 
size. While the Swan, nevertheless, is emi- 
nent for the beauty of its form and motion, 
the Pelican has moral virtues which seem to 
surpass those that have been hitherto record- 
ed of the Swan; and which at once explain 
and justify many, at least, of the notions 
which antiquity has bequeathed to us of the 
former bird; for the ancients seem to have 
observed it well, while the moderns uni- 
formly speak of it without sufficient re- 
flection. The Pelican, like so many other 
animals, is found to be not only an attentive 
nurse of its young, but a kind neighbour to 
its fellow Pelicans. In Mexico, advantage 
is taken of this latter part of its character, in 
order to rob it of the large supplies of fish 
which it brings from the water m the pouch 
attached to its bill. In order to obtain a 
supply of fish, the wing of a live Pelican 1s 
