288 
THE PELICAN. 
the subject of the supply of food provided by several 
species of birds for their young, I have collected many 
interesting facts showing that in some instances the 
parents prepare by partial digestion, and in others by 
the addition of a secreted nutritive substance, the food 
intended for the support of their offspring. The one 
which I am about to relate I was certainly not prepared 
to expect ; nevertheless, such facts as I now lay before 
you have caused me no little astonishment, as they appear 
to me to afford a solution to the well-known and ancient 
story of the Pelican in the Wilderness. I have heard that 
the so-called fable originated, or is to be found, on some 
of the early Egyptian monuments (I do not know where), 
but that the representations are more like flamingoes than 
pelicans. I have published elsewhere, in the ‘ Proceedings 
of the Zoological Society/ for March 1869, what I consider 
to be the facts of the case, and take this opportunity of 
referring to the matter. The flamingoes here in the gardens 
have frequently shown signs of breeding, and have been 
supplied with heaps of sand to form their nests, but 
without result ; nevertheless they appear to take con¬ 
siderable notice of a pair of Cariamas in the same aviary. 
These birds have a habit of bending back their heads, 
and with open gaping mouths utter loud and somewhat 
distressing sounds. This habit at once attracts the 
flamingoes, and very frequently one or more of them 
advance towards the cariamas, and standing erect over 
