The Bear Family at Home, and How the Circus Came to Visit Them

by Curtis Dwight Wilbur

And when his papa asked him how he got along that day, he told him about the blackberry patch, and said that he hoped they would all go the next day and get something to eat, for there were plenty of berries for all the bears, and for any of the other animals who wanted to eat the berries.

The lion and the tiger both said that they did not care for berries, and the hippopotamus, too, said that he did not want any berries; the rhinoceros did not care for berries, but all the birds and the monkey thought it would be fine to go and get some of the berries the next day.

Then the little Cub Bear said:

"Oh, papa, I almost forgot. I want to tell you about the strange bird that I saw to-day, at a big lake in the mountains; it was bigger than a hawk, or an eagle. The bird had a long bill, and circled around, and around, and then turned a somersault, and fell with outstretched wings ker-splash into the water; and then the bird came up and shook his head as though he were nodding to a friend."

The Papa Bear said, "Why, I know what that was; that was a pelican, and if you had been nearer to him, you would have seen a strange bag under his bill."

The little Cub Bear said, "Well, what was he nodding his head about when he came up out of the water?"

And the Papa Bear said, "You see, the pelican dived into the water to get a fish, which he saw when he was flying about above the water, and he dove down into the water so straight, that he caught the little fish in his bill; and put it in the pouch under the bill, before the little fish could get away. And then when he came to the surface, he was nodding his head, so he could throw his bill up into the air, and try to get the fish down his throat."

Then the Papa Bear said that one time he saw a pelican swallow the head of a fish that he had found on the beach at the seashore, and this head was larger than two baseballs, and when the pelican got the head half way down his throat, it stuck there, and the poor pelican was in great distress, for he could not get the fish's head up or down. The Papa Bear said he did not know what happened to the pelican, for at that time two men came up, and the Papa Bear had to leave as fast as he could; but he thought perhaps these men might have helped the pelican to get the fish's head in his throat either up or down.

The little Cub Bear said, "I think it was very foolish of the pelican to try to swallow something so big without knowing whether he could get it down or not."

The Papa Bear said, "You see, we never can tell what we can do, until we try, and that is a good way to learn, if we are careful enough about our trying."