THE ALBATROSS. 277 



Singular method of taking fish. 



place, and, with its head stretched out, seem to 

 pay the utmost attention. Gessner informs us, 

 that the emperor Maximilian had a tame pelican 

 that lived about eighty years, and always at- 

 tended his soldiers when on their marches. It 

 was one of the largest of the kind, and had a 

 daily allowance by the emperor's orders. M. de 

 Saint Pierre mentions his having seen at the 

 Cape Town a large pelican, playing close to the 

 custom-house with a great dog; whose head she 

 often took, in her frolic, into her enormous beak. 

 When a number of pelicans and cormorants 

 are together, they are said to have a very singu- 

 lar method of taking fish. They spread into a 

 large circle, at some distance from land; and the 

 pelicans flap with their extensive wings above, 

 on the surface, while the cormorants dive be- 

 neath: hence the fish contained within the cir- 

 cle 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 

 difficulty in filling their bellies. In this exercise 

 they are often attended by various species of 

 gulls, who likewise obtain a share of the spoil. 



THE ALBATROSS. 



THIS is one of the largest and most formida- 

 e birds of Africa and America, but as yet few 



