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‹Better GutenbergThe Natural History of Pliny, Vol. 2Chap. 66 — The Pelican · 337 of 370Contents›

The Natural History of Pliny, Vol. 2

by Pliny the Elder

337 of 370 · Contents · Download EPUB

Chap. 66 The Pelican

The pelican is similar in appearance to the swan, and it would be thought that there was no difference between them whatever, were it not for the fact that under the throat there is a sort of second crop, as it were. It is in this that the ever-insatiate animal stows everything away, so much so, that the capacity of this pouch is quite astonishing. After having finished its search for prey, it discharges bit by bit what it has thus stowed away, and reconveys it by a sort of ruminating process into its real stomach. The part of Gallia that lies nearest to the Northern Ocean produces this bird.

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