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made that was made," His glory, who is our God and our Redeemer.

The next family is termed PELECANIDÆ, and comprehends the Pelican, the Gannet, the Cormorant, the Darter, the Frigate-bird, and many others, in all of which the beak is more or less denuded of feathers at the base; the nostrils being mere slits not very perceptible. The skin of the throat is more or less capable of being dilated, and the tongue is very small. The toes are four in number, all connected together by webs, that which is properly the hind toe having an obliquely forward direction. The beak varies in form, but it is strong, and longer than the head in all. Some of the groups approach the Anatidæ, others the Gulls and Terns, others the Colymbidæ, and one group the Falcons and rapacious birds in their habits and manners, as well as in a corresponding modification of form.

The first genus is that termed Pelecanus; it contains the celebrated PELICAN. The generic characters are as follow the bill is of great length, broad, flattened, and straight, with a hook at the extremity of the upper mandible; the under mandible is formed of two long slender flexible branches united together at the tip, and enclosing a widely dilatable membranous pouch, which extends for some distance down the front of the neck. The nostrils are very small, and placed in a slight furrow near the base of the upper mandible; the tongue is merely rudimentary; the eyes are surrounded by naked skin; the body is large; the legs short; the wings moderately ample.

The WHITE PELICAN (Pelecanus onocrotalus) is not only the largest bird of the present family, but of the Natatorial order, measuring nearly six feet from the extremity of its bill to the tip of its rounded tail, and from ten to twelve in the expanse of its wings. Notwithstanding its size and bulk, it is capable of soaring to a great height in the atmosphere, and of maintaining a protracted flight; for the specified weight of the body is lighter than it ap

pears, owing to the extensive air-cells which penetrate in various directions, and the hollow structure of the larger bones, which are tubes also filled with air.

This stately bird is not uncommon in several of the

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warmer countries of Europe, whence it sometimes wanders into more northern latitudes. In many parts of Asia and Africa it abounds in incredible numbers, not only on the shores of the sea, but along the larger rivers, on lakes, and inland waters. It abounds on the Black and the Caspian Seas, coming and going, as Latham

states, "with the swans, geese, and storks." Their flight is said to be in the figure of a wedge, as we see it in wild geese, during their migrations from one country to another. The food of the Pelican is fish, in quest of which it hovers and wheels over the water, plunging down with great rapidity upon such as approach the surface, and seldom missing its aim. These it transfers to its capacious pouch, which it fills with as many as it can conveniently carry, and then wings its way to some rock or solitary island, in order to devour them at leisure, or feed its voracious brood.

The number of fish which this pouch will contain may easily be imagined, when we state that it is so highly dilatable as to be capable of containing two gallons of water. In order to disgorge the prey which it has received, the bird presses the pouch against the breast, and in this manner the food is conveyed into the throats of the young, an action, as a talented writer observes, "that has given rise to the fable of the Pelican feeding its young with its blood."

The Pelican chooses remote and solitary islands, isolated rocks in the sea, and the banks of rivers and lakes, as the site of its nest, which is composed of dried vegetable matter; the eggs are said to be two in number.

We find this bird more than once noticed in the sacred writings; it is mentioned with the swan, in Levit. ii. 18, among the creatures forbidden as food. In Psalm cii. 6, the writer in affliction says, "I am like a Pelican of the wilderness," alluding to his solitary condition, with none but Him who "laid the foundations of the earth," on whom to call.

The present species is, when adult, almost entirely white, with a slight tinge of flesh colour. The feathers of the chest are long, firm, and silky, with a tinge of straw colour. The quill-feathers are black, but nearly concealed beneath the wing-coverts, which are long and pointed, and are very regularly and beautifully disposed; the bill is yellowish, passing into red at the tip, the sides of the lower mandible, and a line down the upper being leadcoloured; the pouch is pale yellow. Besides the present, there are several other species, all of which exhibit the

same general habits. India, New Holland, and America have each their peculiar species; so that we may account the genus as universally distributed.

The next genus to be noticed is that termed Sula; characterized by a long bill, which is thick at the base, and tapers gradually to a sharp point, constituting a formidable weapon. Beneath the under mandible the skin is naked and dilatable; and the edges of the upper are furrowed with teeth directed backwards, resembling those of a fine saw. The face is naked; the wings are long and pointed; the tail is graduated; the four toes are all connected together by webs; the claw of the middle toe pectinated as in the heron.

The genus Sula contains the Gannets. Gifted with unwearied powers of flight, the birds of this genus are incessantly soaring over the ocean, eagerly surveying its glassy surface in quest of fish, upon which they dart from their elevation with amazing impetuosity. They do not dive, nor are they expert as swimmers, seldom, indeed, resting on the water, where, when they do alight, they float without using any exertion. During the breeding season they assemble together in large flocks, and take up their quarters on the most precipitous rocks which overhang the deep. They lay but one egg, and the young are nearly four years in acquiring the full plumage of maturity. The species are not numerous, one alone is a native of Europe.

The GANNET, or Solan Goose, (Sula Bassana.) The Bass Rock, at the entrance of the Frith of Forth; the Isle of Ailsa, on the mouth of the Frith of Clyde; St. Kilda; and the Skelig Isles upon the Irish coast, are the annual resorts of this bird for the purpose of incubation; it arrives about the end of March, from the more southern latitudes of Europe, where it sojourns during the winter, and soon begins to incubate, the female laying a single egg, for which a nest is prepared of sea-weed and other vegetables, and placed on the ledges and projections of the rocks; on these giddy heights multitudes breed in harmony together. When first hatched, the young are

quite destitute of down, and the skin is of a dark lead colour. In a few days, however, a white down makes its appearance, which soon becomes extremely thick and full.

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The true feathers gradually cover this warm vestment, and in about two months they are able to take wing.

The Bass rock may be regarded as an established farm for Gannets, the young of which are prized not only on account of the down that forms their clothing, but for their flesh also, which is roasted, and esteemed as a relish, though it is rank and oily, and disgusting to those unaccustomed to it. In the markets of Edinburgh and other towns in Scotland, thousands of Gannets are sold, at the rate of one shilling and eight pence each; hence the breeding of these birds is much encouraged. The precipitous Bass rock is rented from the proprietor at sixty or seventy pounds a year, and the proceeds depend upon the produce of the Gannets. "Great care," observes Selby, "is taken to protect the old birds, which the tenant is enabled to do, from the privilege possessed

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