54 THE WONDERS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



them, remaining with them the greater part of the day, and passing the night on the branch of a tree 

 that hung over them*. By this means they all three became so familiar as to suffer themselves to be 

 handled, and the young ones always took the fish that he offered them, stowing it at first in their bag, 

 and then swallowing it at leisure. The pelecan, however, has often been rendered domestic ; and the 

 same writer informs us, that he saw one amongst the Americans so well trained, that it would at com- 

 mand go off in the morning and return before night, having its pouch distended with prey, part of 

 which it was made to disgorge, and the rest it was permitted to retain for its trouble. 



According to the account of Faber, a pelecan was kept in the court of the Duke of Bavaria above 

 forty years. He says, that it seemed fond of being in the company of mankind, and that when any one 

 sang or played on an instrument it would stand perfectly still, turn its ear to the place, and with its 

 head stretched out, would seem to pay the utmost attention. We are further told;, that the Emperor 

 Maximilian had a tame pelecan that lived more than eighty years, and always attended his soldiers 

 when on their marches. 



Notwithstanding, however, the many exaggerated stories that have been related of the extraordinary 

 affection of the pelecan, it is still certain that it exhibits a higher degree of attachment, not only 

 towards its young ones, but also towards its species in general, than any other aquatic bird that 

 we are acquainted with. Clavigoro, in his History of Mexico, says, that sometimes the Americans, in 

 order to procure without trouble a supply of fish, cruelly break the wing of a live pelecan, and after 

 tying the bird to a tree, conceal themselves near the place. The screams of the miserable bird 

 attract other pelecans to the place, which, he assures us, eject a portion of the provisions from their 

 pouches for their imprisoned companion. As soon as the men in their ambush observe this, they rush 

 to the spot, and after leaving a small quantit}' for the bird, carry off the remainder. 



When the cormorants and the pelecans are together, they are said to have a very singular method of 

 taking fish. The)' arrange themselves in a large circle, at some distance from land, and the pelecans 

 flap with their extensive wings above the surface, while the cormorants dive beneath. By this means the 

 fish contained in the circle are driven before them towards the land, and as the circle lessens by the 

 birds coming closer together, the fish at last are brought into a small compass, when their pursuers 

 find no difficult}' in filling their bellies. In this exercise they are often attended by various species of 

 gulls, which likewise obtain a share of the spoil. 



The pelecan is found in nearly all parts of the globe, but seldom in the North of Europe. The birds 

 which form the subject of our engraving are reported to be from Hungary, and they appear to be 

 perfectly reconciled to their place of confinement. If you present your arm to them they snap at it 

 with their bill, but their gripe is scarcely perceptible. They are allowed daily to take an airing in the 

 court-yard, where they are refreshed by a copious bathing, from which they seem to derive great 

 pleasure. Towards the close of the year 1S28, the female laid three eggs, building for herself a very 

 comfortable nest in one of the corners of their cage. Considerable hopes were excited that the eggs 

 would be hatched, as they would then have been the first that had ever been hatched in England, 

 but those hopes were frustrated, although the female never neglected her eggs, not even for the pur- 

 pose of feeding, as she was regularly supplied during incubation by her partner, who, apparently 

 conscious that another depended on him for sirpport, usually crammed his pouch with a double quan- 

 tity, and then very affectionately proceeded to discharge a certain proportion of it into the throat of 

 his partner. 



The pelecans in the Tower are generally allowed about thirty or forty small fish, generally flounders 

 or dabs, per day. 



* We give this fact as it is stated by Labat, at the same time that we cannot attach implicit credence to it. The very 

 circumstance of an aquatic bird, web-footed, roosting on a tree, when it might have been made to stand during the whole 

 of the night by its young, subjects the author to the serious charge of falsification. 



