BROWN PELICAN... YOUNG (PLATE CCCCXXI)

Pelecanus occidentalis JW 38 fine, fresh impression sheet 25 5/8 by 38 1/4 in.; 650 by 968 mm. Based on a composition painted in New Orleans, January 28 and 29, 1821. "During a severe gale, on the 7th of April 1836, the wind coming from the north-west, I saw a flock of about thirty of these birds flying only a few feet above the water, and against the gale. Having proceeded a few yards, they plunged into the water, generally to leeward, and threw their bodies round as soon as their bills were immersed, giving a very curious appearance to the wings, which seemed as if locked. On seizing a fish, they kept the bill beneath the surface for a short time in a perpendicular direction, and drew it up gradually, when the water was seen to flow out, after which they raised the bill to a horizontal position, and swallowed the fish." See lot 251.