ORNITHOLOGY 



297 



"MOST OF THEM 



PAID XO ATTENTION TO ME WHATEVER." 



practically the entire brood of 1913-14 

 (those pictured here) was later destroy- 

 ed before the birds were able to shift 

 for themselves. This meant a consid- 

 erable loss, as we estimated fifteen hun- 

 dred young and two thousand adult 

 birds on the island at the time of our 

 visit. From these facts it may be un- 

 derstood that the brown pelican has in- 

 creased but little in numbers during the 

 past few years. 



In the photograph of the adult 

 birds just returning from the fishing 

 grounds, it will be noted that the 

 pouches of the flying birds are not ex- 

 panded, and the statement that these 



THE YOUNG ARE COMPARATIVELY HE1 PI ESS 

 UNTIL THEY ARE QUITE LARGE. 



great pouches are used for carrying fish 

 to the young is an erroneous one. From 

 the time of hatching until they are 

 many weeks old these young are fed by 

 regurgitation. Several of the adult 

 birds upon the ground, shown in this 

 picture, may be seen preparing to feed 

 their young. In this process the pouch 

 is extended and the partly digested fish 

 "regurgitated" into the sac ; the bill 

 is then opened and the hungry young- 

 ster allowed to help himself, except in 

 the case of a very small bird, when the 

 parent probably places the food in the 

 throat of the nestling. 



The awkwardness of these birds, 

 both old and young, while on the 

 ground is noticeable, and the feeding of 

 some of the larger young is sometimes 

 an astonishing and somewhat remark- 

 able procedure. A bird two-thirds the 

 size of the adult may be seen with its 

 head thrust completely inside the 

 parent's bill and, in some cases, clear 

 down its throat. This proceeding is 

 not taken calmly by the parent bird, 

 but is accompanied by all sorts of con- 

 tortions and apparent efforts to release 

 itself from what appears to be a very 

 uncomfortable situation. In this way 

 the two birds may be seen struggling 

 about amid great confusion, especially 

 if there are other young — as is fre- 

 quently the case — making vain endea- 



