I looked at the bird which was as large as a graceful swan. He had a moderate wingspread and a rounded tail. He was creamy white slight tints of flesh. As I peered at the great bill with a hook at the end, so light yet so strong , and though , not for the first time , how strange and beautiful it must be that a creature so grotesque could know one complete moment of flashing beauty ; at the very last split second of his dive, a fishing pelican folds his clumsy wings and cleaves the water like a hurled arrow , all grace , power , and precision. But at this particular moment I had a feeling that this bird would know no more such moments.