Читать книгу Arctic Searching Expedition (Sir John Richardson) - comprehensive & illustrated - (Literary Thoughts Edition) онлайн
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The pelican, as it assembles in flocks, and is very voracious, destroys still larger quantities of fish than the eagle. It is the Pelicanus trachyrhynchus of systematic ornithologists, and ranges as far north as Great Slave Lake, in latitude 60°-61° N. These birds generally choose a rapid for the scene of their exploits, and, commencing at the upper end, suffer themselves to float down with the current, fishing as they go with great success, particularly in the eddies. When satiated, and with full pouches, they stand on a rock or boulder which rises out of the water, and air themselves, keeping their half-bent wings raised from their sides, after the manner of vultures and other gross feeders. Their pouches are frequently so crammed with fish that they cannot rise into the air until they have relieved themselves from the load, and on the unexpected approach of a canoe, they stoop down, and, drawing the bill between their legs, turn out the fish. They seem to be unable to accomplish this feat when swimming, so that then they are easily overtaken, and may be caught alive, or killed with the blow of a paddle. If they are near the beach when danger threatens, they will land to get rid of the fish more quickly. They fly heavily, and generally low, in small flocks of from eight to twenty individuals, marshalled, not in the cuneiform order of wild geese, but in a line abreast, or slightly en echellon; and their snow-white plumage with black-tipped wings, combined with their great size, gives them an imposing appearance. Exceeding the fishing eagle and the swan in bulk, they are the largest birds in the country. Their eggs are deposited on rocky islets among strong rapids, where they cannot be easily approached by man or beasts of prey. The species is named from a ridge or crest which rises from the middle line of the upper mandible of the male; sometimes from its whole length, when it is generally uneven; and sometimes from a short part only, when it is semicircular and smooth-edged.