5° 



THE FOOD OF ANIMALS 



then rose to the surface with its prey, which was jerked off and 

 caught in the mouth. 



The Gannet {S^ila Bassana), a British form, follows quite a 

 different plan of campaign from the closely-allied cormorants. It 

 flies about till a fish is seen, and then, rising to a certain height 

 above it, drops suddenly down, and usually secures it. 



Fig. 340.— A Pelican {Pelecanus) 



Pelicans (fig. 340), which are allied to cormorants and gannets, 

 abound in the warmer parts of the globe, and hunt fish in the 

 shallower parts of rivers and estuaries, swimming with their heads 

 under water. Like the Cape Cormorant, these birds have learnt 

 the value of co-operation, for they commonly hunt together in 

 long lines, a proceeding disastrous to their prey. Everyone 

 knows that the Pelican possesses a convenient pouch hanging 

 down from the lower part of the beak, and serving as a fish- 

 basket. 



