THE PELICAN. 271 



Remarkable pouch. 



cept some parts of the wings, which are black. 

 The legs are lead-coloured, and the claws grey. 

 The bag in the lower mandible of the bill is 

 one of the most remarkable members that is found 

 in the structure of any animal. Though it 

 wrinkle up nearly into the hollow of the chap, 

 and the sides to which it is attached are not (in 

 a quiescent state) above an inch asunder, it may 

 be distended amazingly; and when the bird has 

 fished with success, its size is almost incredible. 

 It would contain a man's head with the greatest 

 ease; and it has even been said that a man's leg, 

 with a boot on, has been hidden in one of these 

 pouches. In fishing, the pelican fills this bag : 

 and does not immediately swallow his prey: but 

 when this is full, he returns to the shore to devour 

 at leisure the fruits of his industry. He is not 

 long in digesting his food; for he has generally 

 to fish more than once in the course of a day. 

 When the bill of this bird is opened to its widest 

 extent, a person may run his head into the bird's 

 mouth, and conceal it in this monstrous pouch, 

 thus adapted for very singular purposes. Yet 

 this is nothing to what Ruysch assures us, who 

 avers, that a man has been seen to hide his whole 

 leg, boot and all, in the monstrous jaw of one of 

 these animals. At first appearance this^would 

 seem impossible, as the sides of the under chap, 

 from which the bag depends, are not above an 

 inch asunder when the bird's bill is first opened ; 

 but then they are capable of great separation ; 



