SWIMMERS. 



311 



like the bones of other birds ; and are also pellucid, or clear. It 

 is said that the bag under their throat is so capable of enlarge- 

 ment, as sufficient to hold two human heads. The Pelican is 

 nearly twice the size of a swan. Pelicans haunt desert places 



where there are rivers, or pools, and marshy places : hence, the 

 Psalmist compares himself to a pelican of the wilderness. The 

 voice of this bird is harsh and disagreeable, resembling the sounds 

 uttered by a man in great suffering and distress. 



The Frigate Pelican, or Man-of- War Bird, is usually 

 f'lund between the tropics. Although when stripped of its 

 feathers it is hardly longer than a pigeon, yet no man can touch 

 at the same time the tips of its extended wings. The long wing 

 bones are exceedingly light, and the whole apparatus of air-cells 

 is extremely developed, so that its real weight is very trifling. 

 It fli'es at a> great height above the water, and from that elevation 

 pounces down on fish, especially the poor persecuted flying-fish. 

 A-Ccording to some authors, the name of Man-of-War Bird was 



