ABSTRACT
l. 42] ‘The Pelican makes choice of dry and desert places to lay her eggs, when her young are hatched. She is obliged to bring water to them from great distances. To enable her to perform this necessary office Nature has provided her with a large sack which extends from the tip of the under mandible of her bill to the throat, and holds as much water as will supply her brood for several days. This water she pours into the nest to cool her young, to allay their thirst, and to teach them to swim. Lions, Tygers, and other rapacious animals resort to these 240nests, and drink the water and are said not to injure the young.’ Smellie’s Philosophy of Natural History. 168 a
