THE PELICAN.
The life of a pelican seems to be a very lazy, if not a very pleasant
one. Man, ever on the watch to turn the habits of animals to his own
account, observing how good a fisherman the pelican is, often catches
and tames him, and makes him fish for _him_. I have heard of a bird of
this kind in America, which was so well trained, that it would at
command go off in the morning, and return at night with its pouch full,
and stretched to the utmost; part of its treasure it disgorged for its
master, the rest was given to the bird for its trouble. It is hardly
credible what these extraordinary pouches will hold; it is said, that
among other things, a man's leg with the boots on was once found in one
of them.
Pelicans live in flocks; they and the cormorants sometimes help one
another to get a living. The cormorant is a species of pelican, of a
dusky color: it is sometimes called the sea crow. The cormorants are the
best divers, so the pelicans arrange themselves in a large circle at
some great distance from the land, and flap their great wings on the
surface of the water, while the cormorants dive beneath.
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