AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN. 21 



When, somewhat more than thirty years ago, I first removed to Kentucky, 

 Pelicans of this species were frequently seen by me on the sand-bars of the 

 Ohio, and on the rock-bound waters of the rapids of that majestic river, 

 situated, as you well know, between Louisville and Shipping-port. Nay 

 when, a few years afterwards, I established myself at Henderson, the White 

 Pelicans were so abundant that I often killed several at a shot, on a well 

 known sand-bar, which protects Canoe Creek Island. During those delight- 

 ful days of my early manhood, how often have I watched them with delight! 

 Methinks indeed, reader, those days have returned to me, as if to enable me 

 the better once more to read the scattered notes contained in my often- 

 searched journals. 



Ranged along the margins of the sand-bar, in broken array, stand a hun- 

 dred heavy-bodied Pelicans. Gorgeous tints, all autumnal, enrich the foliage 

 of every tree around, the reflection of which, like fragments of the rainbow, 

 seems to fill the very depths of the placid and almost sleeping waters of the 

 Ohio. The subdued and ruddy beams of the orb of day assure me that the 

 Indian summer has commenced, that happy season of unrivalled loveliness 

 and serenity, symbolic of autumnal life, which to every enthusiastic lover of 

 nature must be the purest and calmest period of his career. Pluming them- 

 selves, the gorged Pelicans patiently wait the return of hunger. Should 

 one chance to gape, all, as if by sympathy, in succession open their long and 

 broad mandibles, yawning lazily and ludicrously. Now, the whole length 

 of their largest quills is passed through the bill, until at length their apparel 

 is as beautifully trimmed as if the party were to figure at a route. But 

 mark, the red beams of the setting sun tinge the tall tops of the forest trees; 

 the birds experience the cravings of hunger, and to satisfy them they must 

 now labour. Clumsily do they rise on their columnar legs, and heavily 

 waddle to the water. But now, how changed do they seem ! Lightly do 

 they float, as they marshal themselves, and extend their line, and now their 

 broad paddle-like feet propel them onwards. In yonder nook, the small fry 

 are dancing in the quiet water, perhaps in their own manner bidding fare- 

 well to the orb of day, perhaps seeking something for their supper. Thou- 

 sands there are, all gay, and the very manner of their mirth, causing the 

 waters to sparkle, invites their foes to advance toward the shoal. And now 

 the Pelicans, aware of the faculties of their scaly prey, at once spread out 

 their broad wings, press closely forward with powerful strokes of their feet, 

 drive the little fishes toward the shallow shore, and then, with their enor- 

 mous pouches spread like so many bag-nets, scoop them out and devour them 

 in thousands. 



How strange it is, reader, that birds of this species should be found breed- 

 ing in the Fur Countries, at about the same period when they are to be found 



