412 
THE LIVING WORLD. 
The pelican has long enjoyed the honor of typifying parental affection and 
although not undeserving of its wide reputation is not singular in this worthy 
characteristic, as the readers of The Living World will ascertain when reading 
about the mammalia, 
has been known to 
The 
assume 
pelican is very marked 
the labor of both birds 
m its 
when 
and 
domestic virtues 
a broken leg, a use¬ 
less wing, or any 
other physical in¬ 
jury has disabled his 
companion. In one 
case which was stud¬ 
ied by a competent 
observer, the male 
bird constantly 
brought food to his 
helpmeet who had 
her wing broken by 
the hunter. He 
manifested the deep¬ 
est and most sus¬ 
tained solicitude ,and 
seemed to care quite 
as much that she 
should not exert 
herself unnecessarily 
as that she should 
have a sufficiency 
of food. The peli¬ 
can of poetry and 
fable offers, if need 
be, its own 1 i fe ’ s 
blood for the sustenance of its fam¬ 
ished young ; the pelican of science 
without going so far, leaves no effort 
untried to see that those dependent 
upon it do not suffer from privation. 
The pelican does not put before its 
young the prey which it has secured, 
but opening its bill allows the young 
to forage in the larder which its 
pouch provides. In the early morn¬ 
ing and evening it will gather in 
companies and start for its fishing- 
grounds. Having selected a shallow 
bay or pond the company arranges 
itself into a crescent some ten feet 
distant from the shore. They now begin in concert to beat the water with their 
wings while steadily marching toward the shore and driving before them the fright¬ 
ened fish. When this task has been accomplished they begin to feast and to store 
their pouches, though they magnanimously permit other birds to enjoy the bounti¬ 
ful provision which by intelligent effort they have thus made. 
LITTLli AUK, OR RAZOR BIRD. 
