James Montgomery

The Dove,
On silver pinions, winged her peaceful way.

The Dove,
On silver pinions, winged her peaceful way.

There is a flower, a little flower
With silver crest and golden eye,
That welcomes every changing read more

There is a flower, a little flower
With silver crest and golden eye,
That welcomes every changing hour,
And weathers every sky.

Golden Bill! Golden Bill!
Lo, the peep of day;
All the air is cool and still,
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Golden Bill! Golden Bill!
Lo, the peep of day;
All the air is cool and still,
From the elm-tree on the hill,
Chant away:
. . . .
Let thy loud and welcome lay
Pour alway
Few notes but strong.

Nimbly they seized and secreted their prey,
Alive and wriggling in the elastic net,
Which Nature hung read more

Nimbly they seized and secreted their prey,
Alive and wriggling in the elastic net,
Which Nature hung beneath their grasping beaks;
Till, swoln, with captures, the unwieldy burden
Clogg'd their slow flight, as heavily to land,
These mighty hunters of the deep return'd.
There on the cragged cliffs they perch'd at ease,
Gorging their hapless victims one by one;
Then full and weary, side by side, they slept,
Till evening roused them to the chase again.

Nature's prime favourites were the Pelicans;
High-fed, long-lived, and sociable and free.

Nature's prime favourites were the Pelicans;
High-fed, long-lived, and sociable and free.