THE PELICAN. 
321 
raised from their sides, after the manner of vultures and 
other gross feeders. Their pouches are frequently so 
crammed with fish that they cannot rise into the air until 
they have relieved themselves from the load; and, on the 
unexpected approach of a canoe, they stoop down, and, 
drawing their bill between their legs, turn out the fish. They 
seem to be unable to accomplish this feat when swimming, 
so that then they are easily overtaken, and may be caught 
alive, or killed with the blow of a paddle. If they are near 
the beach when danger threatens, they will land to get rid 
of the fish more quickly. They fly heavily, and generally 
low, in small flocks of from eight to twenty individuals, 
marshalled, not in the cuneiform order of wild geese, but in 
a line abreast, or slightly en echelon ; and their snow-white 
plumage, with black-tipped wings, combined with their 
great size, gives them an imposing appearance. . . . Their 
eggs are deposited on rocky islets among rapids, where 
they cannot be easily approached by man or beasts of prey.^^ 
Mr. Gosse thus describes the habits of the Pelicanus 
fuscus when searching for its food : — " It is a pleasant sight 
to see a flock of pelicans fishing. A dozen or more are 
flying on heavy, flagging wing over the sea, the long neck 
doubled on the back, so that the beak seems to protrude 
y 
