CONCLUSION. 297 



the remains of a pelican were picked up on the shore at 

 Castle Eden, Durham. Such are the scanty records of 

 the appearance of a pelican in England in modern 

 times. 



The bone found in Cambridgeshire may have belonged 

 to P. onocrotalns, a native of South and South-Eastern 

 Europe, and which is stated to be " common on the lakes 

 and watercourses of Hungary and Russia, and also seen 

 further south in Asia and ,in Northern Africa." M. Milne- 

 Edwards, however, has not quite determined the species, 

 for, on comparison with the bones of other recognized and 

 existing species, it appears to differ rather remarkably in 

 its greater length. 



Enough has probably been said, however, to show the 

 interest which attaches to the discovery, and to suggest 

 further research. 



With the pelican ends the long list of birds mentioned 

 in the works of Shakespeare. 



The reader who has had the patience or the curiosity 

 to follow us thus far will, doubtless, ere this have formed 

 a just estimate of Shakespeare's qualifications as a natu- 

 ralist, and will have drawn the only conclusion which the 

 evidence justifies. 



It is impossible to read all that Shakespeare has written 

 in connection with ornithology, without being struck with 

 the extraordinary knowledge which he has displayed for 

 the age in which he lived ; and our admiration for him as 



Q Q 



