36 THE BOOK OF BIRDS 



pretty fluffy-feather coat. They do, indeed, wear a close- 

 litting covering of coarse yellowish down, but no one 

 would imagine that they were destined one day to soar up 

 into the clear blue, and flash the sunshine from white 

 wings in bold, graceful flight. 



Thanks largely to the way in which dead, half-eaten 

 fish are left lying about around the nests, a Pelican nursery 

 is a most ill-smelling place. The two most common species 

 make their settlements at the water's edge, among reeds 

 and rushes or even on the water, the untidy structure 

 floating like a raft. But the Spotted-bill Pelican of Burmah 

 builds in the trees of the forest, one tree sometimes bearing 

 as many as a dozen nests. 



The Pelican of the Philippines is content with a slight 

 hollow in a hillock of sand, so that it cannot take him long 

 to decide where his little blind, bald nestlings shall be 

 reared. 



The Pelican is by no means a stupid bird, and when it 

 comes to getting his dinner he sets his wits working to 

 very good purpose. One writer thus describes the way in 

 which a flock of Pelicans will join in driving the flsh — 

 scaring them into fleeing in one direction, and then 

 gobbling up as many as they can take : — 



"They [the Pelicans] collect in a shallow bay, and 

 arrange themselves in perfect order. The cormorants, 

 their inseparable companions, do not fail to join in the 

 feast, and gulls and other fish-eating birds are certain to 

 put in an appearance. The Pelicans, arranged in a semi- 

 circle, give the signal, and approach the shore, striking the 

 water with their wings, and plunging in their heads, whilst 

 the cormorants, as an advanced guard, plunge again and 

 again, and create terror among the fish." 



Another writer calls attention to an odd trick of the 



