ORNITHOLOGY 



299 



finally takes its place, while the other 

 spreads its great wings, mounts into 

 the air and is oft* to enjoy a sail over 

 the bounding waves. 



A bit of quiet home life is shown in 

 one photograph. Under the sheltering 

 protection of its parent, a tiny young- 

 ster may be observed here peering over 

 the edge of the nest. In the nests near- 

 by are contented little families, and 

 floating upon wide pinions, like a veri- 

 table airship, the master aviator comes 

 sailing home to his nest. Among these 

 great birds, as among many other of 



thousand birds when all were here, but 

 on account of nesting accommodations 

 upon this small island, which covers 

 less than three acres of ground, their 

 feeding is extended over a considerable 

 period of time ; and while a few some- 

 times nest on near-by islands, the great 

 majority seem so attached to this one 

 spot that they apparently prefer to 

 postpone their nesting until others are 

 through, rather than to take up their 

 abode elsewhere. On the day of our 

 visit we noted birds carrying material 

 for new nests, while at the same time 

 were young pelicans in all stages of 



THE PELICAN IS SURELY A MASTER AVIATOR. 



the wild creatures, an intimate study 

 of their habits and their home customs 

 discloses characteristics which appear 

 almost human, and in the relations of 

 parent and offspring we discover in- 

 stinctive traits akin to our own. 



In watching the pelicans we noticed 

 that they always flew high and in regu- 

 lar order when going to the fishing 

 grounds, while upon returning they 

 as regularly dropped down and skim- 

 med low over the water to the island, 

 after they had risen above the border- 

 ing fringe of palms and sand hills which 

 at this point separate the river from the 

 ocean. This is illustrated in our first 

 two photographs. 



We were informed that the present 

 number of this colony was about five 



development, from the egg to birds 

 nearly two months old. 



Nesting dates are considerably later 

 for this species where they congregate 

 for breeding on the gulf coast of Flor- 

 ida. The larger white pelican is also 

 found here, although this bird seldom 

 appears along the waters of the east 

 coast, where the brown pelican reigns 

 supreme. 



Only those have produced perma- 

 nent results who have interrogated na- 

 ture in the spirit of devotion to truth 

 and waited patiently for her replies. 

 The work founded on selfish motives 

 and vanity has sooner or later fallen 

 by the wayside. — Locy, "Biology and 

 It's Makers." 



