1092. Why do flesh eating animals satisfy themselves with a rapid meal?
Because the food which they eat is rich in nutritious matter, and more readily digestible than vegetable food; it does not therefore, require the same amount of grinding with the teeth.
Fig. 73.—PELICAN WITH DILATED POUCH.
1093. Why has the pelican a large pouch under its bill?
Because it subsists upon fish, generally of the smaller kind, and uses its pouch as a net for catching them; the pouch also serves as a paunch, in which the fish are stored, until the bird ceases from the exertion of fishing, and takes its meal at leisure.
"And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good."—Genesis i.