OF BIRDS, 
225 - 
and fishing, till their bag is filled; when they retire to 
land, and greedily devour the fruits of their industry. 
Towards night they again feel the stings of hunger, and 
reluctantly resume their labour; after which they take 
up their nocturnal abode in some high tree. 
The same habits of indolence seem to attend the peli- 
can in every situation; for the female makes no prepara- 
tion for the duties of incubation, but drops her eggs on 
the bare ground, to the number of five or six, and there 
continues to hatch them. Her little progeny, however, 
seem to call forth some maternal affections: for its young 
have been taken and tied by the leg to a post, and the pa- 
rent bird has been observed for several days to come 
and feed them; remaining with them the greatest part 
of the day, and spending the night on the branch of a 
tree that hung over them. By these means they became 
so familiar that they suffered themselves to be handled: 
and they very readily accepted whatever fish was given 
to them. These they always put first into their pouch, 
and then swallowed them at leisure. 
Notwithstanding their natural indolence and stupidity, 
these birds appear to be susceptible of instruction in a 
domestic state. For some of them have been known to 
go off at the word of command, and return with their 
pouches distended with plunder to % their owners. 
Cormorant. c p1 -. 37.) This bird is about the size of 
a Muscovy duck, with the head and neck of a sooty 
blackness, and the body thick and heavy, more inclining 
in figure to that of the goose than the gull. Its distin- 
guished character, however, consists in its toes being 
united by membranes, and by the middle toe being 
notched, like a saw, to assist it in holding its fishy prey. 
On the approach of winter, these birds are seen dis- 
persed along the sea shore, and ascending the mouths 
of rivers, carrying destruction to all the finny tribe; as 
they are remarkably voracious, and have such a quick 
digestion, that their appetite appears completely insatia- 
ble. They build their nests on the highest parts of the 
cliffs that overhang the sea; and the female usually lays 
