210 
THE PELICAN. 
and alighting at the mouth of the river Don, assert 
that the Pelicans take the Cormorants into partner- 
ship on these occasions ; the Pelican extending its 
wings and flapping the water, while the Cormorant, 
diving helow, drives the fish to the surface ; and when, 
by their joint exertions, the shoal is driven into the 
shallows, and easily taken by the Pelicans, the Cor- 
morant helps himself out of his companion's wide 
pouch. The very respectable writer*, on whose au- 
thority we state this latter part, gives some further 
account of the concealment of their eggs, which, how- 
ever extraordinary at first sight, is so well borne 
out by the instinctive habits of some other birds, 
that there is no reason for doubting its truth. He 
says, that if disturbed while sitting, they will hide 
their eggs in the water, taking them out with their 
bills when they believe the danger to be over. 
We can vouch for the fact of sea-birds feeding 
on fish, forced above the surface by the lower part 
of the shoal, having witnessed a singular scene 
off the Hebrides during the herring season. A 
whale of the smaller species ( Delpliinus deductorf) 
was observed pursuing a shoal of herrings about half 
a mile off. The fish were evidently in a state of 
alarm, and it was equally evident that a prodigious 
flight of Gulls, Gannets, and all the host of sea- 
birds, were aware of what might happen, as they 
hovered over the spot screaming, and now and then 
* Dr. E. D. Clarke’s Travels. 
■f The northern coasts were much frequented by this 
whale about that time ; at Kirkwall Bay in Orkney, we saw 
the remains of no less than ninety- two, which had been 
recently driven on shore in a heavy gale. 
