94 
WILD AMERICANS 
By chance, however, a sea gull saw that last bit of 
fishing. A gull is much the smaller bird, resembling 
a duck. When he saw the pelican catch the fish, he 
made a cry that sounded like a wild scream. 
In a moment several other gulls appeared and 
quickly they all circled about the great pelican. The 
pelican flew back toward the shore, fortunately right 
near the spot where the children and Uncle Ely were 
crouching. 
The gulls were screaming and darting at the bigger 
bird, pecking at him, and doing all they could to an¬ 
noy him. 
He tried to fly away, but they headed him back, 
circling around him in the air, making a penetrating 
noise with their voices and flapping wings. He 
dodged, but he couldn't get away. More gulls came, 
and soon a dozen or more were annoying him. 
Finally, he could stand it no longer, so the pelican 
opened his great "suitcase mouth" and out dropped 
all the fish. Buck and Ginger counted them, or tried 
to. Buck counted seven, and Ginger thought she saw 
eight or nine. Uncle Ely wasn't sure, either, but he 
did notice that the fish were all longer than his hand. 
As the fish fell out, the gulls darted after them in¬ 
stantly. Most of them were caught in the air before 
