§ VII. Palmipedes, or Web-footed Birds.
THE PELICAN, (Pelicanus onocrotalus,)
Is in size about equal to the swan; the colour of the body is white, inclining to pink; the beak is straight and long, with a sharp hook at the end; the skin of the lower mandible is so capable of distension, that it may be dilated to contain fish in large quantities. This pouch Providence has allotted to the bird, that he may bring to his eyrie sufficient food for several days, and save himself the trouble of travelling through the air, and watching and diving so often. The legs are black, and the four toes palmated. It is a very indolent, inactive, and inelegant bird, often sitting whole days and nights on rocks or branches of trees, motionless and in a melancholy posture, till the resistless stimulus of hunger spurs it on, and forces it to the sea in search of nourishment; when thus excited to exertion, the Pelican flies from the spot, and, raising itself thirty or forty feet above the surface of the water, turns its head with one eye downward, and continues to fly in that position till it sees a fish near the surface. It then darts down with astonishing swiftness, seizes its prey with unerring certainty, and stores it in its pouch. Having done this, it rises into the air, and repeats the same action till it has procured a sufficient stock. The Pelican is by no means destitute of natural affection, either towards its young ones or towards others of its own species. Clavigero, in his “History of Mexico,” says, that sometimes the Americans, in order to procure, without trouble, a supply of fish, cruelly break the wing of a live Pelican, and, after tying the bird to a tree, conceal themselves near the place. The screams of the miserable bird attract other Pelicans to the place, which, he assures us, eject a portion of the provisions from their pouches for their imprisoned companion. As soon as the men observe this, they rush to the spot, and after leaving a small quantity for the bird, carry off the remainder.
In America, Pelicans are often rendered domestic, and are so trained, that at command they go in the morning and return before night with their pouches distended with prey, part of which they are made to disgorge, while the rest is left them for their trouble. The bird is said to live sometimes a hundred years.
Our forefathers attributed extraordinary affection to this bird, more than is attested by any save heraldic evidence. Thus, in several crests, it is represented in the act of feeding its young with its own blood, which it procures by striking its breast with the sharp point of its beak. And the ancients fully believed that in times of scarcity the female Pelican resorted to this means of supporting her brood. The nest of the Pelican is made with sedges and grass, close to the water’s edge; the female lays two or three white eggs, and the male is said to supply his partner with food while she is engaged in the work of incubation.