ORNITHOLOGY 



293 



range has for many years been practi- 

 cally confined to one small island in 

 the Indian River , these interesting 

 birds may be met with for many miles 

 both above and below their island 

 home. 



On many islands in the Mosquito 

 Inlet Reservation we found large flocks 

 of pelicans in company with gulls and 

 cormorants. At Eau Gallie I watched 

 for a long time an adult pelican ap- 

 parently teaching a well grown young- 

 ster the art of fishing. It is some-times 



in their usual line formation, skimming 

 low over the waves and fishing in the 

 surf along the beach at Grant. No 

 flight could be more graceful and 

 charming than the slow "sailing" of 

 these birds in perfect unison, as they 

 unlulated in their flight with the roll- 

 ing motion of the waves, dipping down 

 into the hollows and rising over the 

 crests, but keeping always close to the 

 surface. A few flaps of their great 

 wings now and then seemed to furnish 

 momentum to carry them a long way 



THE PICTURESQUE HOME OF WARDEN KROEGEL WHO HAS BEEN FOR MANY YEARS 



GUARDIAN OF PELICAN ISLAND. 



ludicrous to see the great ado with 

 which these birds plunge into the water 

 after fish. They will soar and wheel 

 about most gracefully a few yards 

 above the water ; then suddenly turn- 

 ing, will drop with a great splash into 

 a school of menhaden, and seem to 

 plow up the water in their hasty en- 

 deavors to capture their victims which 

 they scoop up in their great bills. Sil- 

 very spray is flung high into the air, 

 and the resultant splash from these sud- 

 den plunges may be heard for more 

 than half a mile across the water. 



One of the most beautiful sights 

 which I observed in Florida was a 

 flock of brown pelicans stretched out 



over the water, and so silent and so 

 rythmic was their motion that one 

 might fancy them propelled by the 

 same power that carried along the blue 

 waves over which they floated. 



To visit the nesting colony on Peli- 

 can Island one must have permission 

 from the government and the sanction 

 of the warden who guards this island 

 under the protection of the Audubon 

 Society. Here at Sebastian, on the 

 mainland, stands Warden Kroegel's 

 picturesque home, under the shelter of 

 a great, protecting live oak which 

 spreads its broad, moss draped canopy 

 completely over the house and door- 

 yard. Several shell mounds of the 



