THE PELECANS. 



THE PELECANS, 



;IN THE ROYAL MENAGERY, TOWER OF LONDON. 



The Pelecan may be considered as one of the largest of the water-birds, being, when full grown, 

 larger than a swan, and measuring from five to six feet between the extremity of the bill and that of 

 the tail, and from ten to twelve between the tips of the expanded wings. The bill is about sixteen 

 inches long, and the skin between the sides of the lower mandible is very flaccid and dilatable, 

 extending eight or nine inches down the neck; the skin is bare of feathers, and is capable of 

 containing many quarts of water ; the tongue is so small as scarcely to be distinguishable ; the 

 sides of the head are naked, and on the back of the head there is a kind of crest. With the exception 

 of the quill-feathers of the wing, which|are black, slightly streaked with white, the plumage is a very- 

 delicate flesh colour, occasionally varied by tinges of a darker hue : the upper mandible is of a dull- 

 yellow in the middle, with a reddish tinge towards the edges. The pouch is of a bright straw-colour. 



The bag, or pouch, in the lower mandible of the bill of the pelecan is one of the most remarkable 

 members that presents itself in the structure of any animal. Although it wrinkles up nearly into the 

 hollow of the chap, and the sides to which it is attached are not, when in a quiescent state, above an 

 inch asunder ; still it may be extended to an amazing capacity, and when the bird has fished with success,. 

 its size is almost incredible ; it will contain a man's head with the greatest ease. In fishing, the 

 pelecan fills this bag, but does not immediately swallow its prey ; having filled its pouch with the 

 spoil, it flies to the land, and there devours it at its leisure. It is not long in digesting its food, for it 

 has generally to fish more than once in the coui-se of the day. Buffon says, that they exhibit con- 

 siderable skill in their manoeuvres to catch the finny tribe, as they form themselves into a circular 

 line, and gradually narrowing the extent of the space inclosed, until they have driven the fishes into so 

 small a compass as to render them a certain prey, then, at a given signal, they all at once plunge 

 into the water, and seize upon their terrified victims. 



At night, when the toils of their fishery are over, these birds, which are lazy and indolent when 

 they have glutted themselves with fish, retire a little way on the shore to take their rest for the night. 

 Their attitude in that state is with their head resting against their breast ; they remain almost motion- 

 less till hunger calls them to break off their repose : thus they pass nearly the whole of their life in 

 eating and sleeping. 



For what reason the ancients attributed to this stupid bird the admirable qualities and parental 

 affections for which it was celebrated amongst them, we are wholly at a loss to divine, unless it were 

 that, being struck with the extraordinary figure of the bird, they were desirous of supplying it with 

 propensities equally wonderful. For, in fact, the pelecan is one of the most heavy, sluggish, and 

 voracious of all the feathered tribes, and is but ill fitted to take those vast flights, or to make those 

 cautious provisions which have been so fancifully ascribed to it. 



The female feeds her young ones with fish macerated for some time in her pouch ; and it was perhaps 

 the appearance of the bird when in the attitude of feeding, with the bloody spot on the tip of its bill 

 closely pressed against the delicate plumage of its breast, that gave rise to the fabulous notions which 

 have been circulated about this bird, and by which it has obtained a character which it does not in 

 reality deserve. 



Labat informs us, that he caught two pelecans when young, and tied them by the leg to a post stuck 

 into the ground, and he had the pleasure of seeing one of the old ones come for several days to feed 



