302 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



island comprises about 1,200 aci'es. Three days were spent liere in investigat- 

 ing the bird life, most of which time was expended in making life a burden 

 to a colony of about 500 pelicans, which were found nesting on the north end 

 of the island. The nests were located in groups of 20 or 30 about a quarter of 

 a mile from the beach and about 250 feet above the sea. They were largely 

 composed of the accumulated filth of several generations of pelicans, and many 

 of the older ones had obtained a height of 3 feet, evidently having been 

 added to from year to year. Most of the nests were built on the tops of low 

 bushes, but many were resting on the bare ground or placed upon blocks of 

 lava. Sticks, twigs, kelp, sea grass, and in a few cases bones of defunct sea 

 birds, were used as building material, and a little sea grass spread over the 

 top as a lining, no attempt being made to form anything more than a mere 

 platform 18 inches or 2 feet in diameter, and in nests of a single year's growth 

 4 or 5 inches in depth. At this date, April 12th, most of the nests contained 

 young ranging from those just hatched to the full-fledged birds capable of 

 flying. The birds at this colony did not appear to be very wild, only flying 

 up when we had approached to within 50 or 60 yards and settling down 

 again as soon as we had passed by. Hundreds of pounds of small fish were 

 scattered all about the colony, in little bunches or singly, having been dis- 

 gorged entirely undigested. I could not see that the young were making any 

 use of these provisions, nor did any of the birds of the island except the 

 gulls. They were probably designed, however, for the nearly fledged young 

 that were still unable to fish for themselves. 



To illustrate variations in the choice of nesting sites and irregu- 

 larities in breeding dates, the following observations of Mr, Edward 

 W. Gifford (1913) in the Galapagos Islands are interesting: 



I saw a pair copulating on their nest at Tagus Cove, Albemarle Island, on 

 April 1. They had no eggs in the nest. All of the other nests of the colony of 

 ten or twelve had single birds on them. Some bad eggs, others none. The nests 

 were bulky affairs of sticks built in bushes on a steep hillside close to the water. 

 The area occupied was about one hundred yards by twenty-five yards. The 

 birds were somewhat wary, some flying upon the near approach of the boat. 



At South Seymour Island, on November 22, three nests were seen in a low 

 tree near the shore. Two had one youngster each, and the third two. On north- 

 ern Indefatigable, November 25, nests with young were observed in the man- 

 groves and also on the ground. On Jervis Island, December 18, a young bird 

 in the down was found in a nest in a low bush at the top of the beach. At 

 Academy Bay, Indefatigable Island, in early November, young were observed 

 in nests built at least twenty feet above the ground in the mangroves. In the 

 middle of the following January the same birds were observed fishing, ap- 

 parently under the supervision of their parents, whose example they followed 

 in diving into the water. 



On March 12, a few miles west of Villamil, Albemarle Island, four occupied 

 nests were found in the low mangroves fringing the rocky shore. They were 

 built in the usual bulky style, and the two which were examined each contained 

 three incubated eggs. At Banks Bay, Albemarle, April 11, three nests were 

 found in some small mangroves about eight feet high. They w^ere shallow, built 

 of sticks, lined with grass, and placed very little above the high-water mark. 

 One had naked youngsters in it ; the second contained three eggs ; and the third 

 was new. 



In the middle of .Tuly, at Academy Bay, the same nests which had young in 

 them the previous November, again contained partly fledged, squawking young- 



