Dear Sirs,
On the background on the daf - Shobbes you say shemen kik might be three things one is the oil of a bird you say a pelican what is your source to say it might be a pelican? thank you for your help
moshe schaeffer
Moshe,
In the Gemara itself (Shabbos 21a), Shmuel says that he asked the sea-farers, who told them that there is a bird called "Kik." This "Kik" bird is identified by some as the pelican (see Aruch). (See also Septuagint to "Ka'as," Vayikra 11:18, based on Chulin 63a. The work "Kuk" in Aramaic and in Arabic means pelican, as cited by Rav Aryeh Kaplan from Rav Sa'adya Ga'on, Radak, and Sefer ha'Sherashim.) However, see our Background to Chulin 63a, where we mention the possibility that the "Ka'as," equated with the "Kik," is the little desert owl (also based on sources quoted by Rav Aryeh Kaplan).
(I have seen a new book called "Birds of the Torah." We don't have it here but I will check when I get a chance to see if he brings any further sources to this issue.)
Y. SHAW