304 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



becomes white instead of dark brown. Probably the fullest develop- 

 ment of plumage, with such nuptial adornments as the yellow crown 

 and golden breast patch, is not acquired until the bird is three years 

 old or older. 



Food. — The food consists largely of fish, but not Avholly so, as 

 the following quotation from Mr. Gilford's (1913) notes will show: 



In the Galapagos Islands brown pelicans serve as scavengers. On several 

 occasions they were observed to pick up the bodies of large birds, after we 

 had skinned them and thrown them overboard. In one case an immature 

 pelican had got the bodies of two Galapagos hawks into its pouch, and was 

 unable to swallow them. Likewise it was unable to fly on account of the 

 weight. It was probably grateful when we rowed up to it, where it was sittiug 

 on the water, and removed the impedimenta, for it flew away joyfully enough 

 afterwards. 



We never saw a pelican make a graceful dive. Invariably they just tum- 

 bled into the water from a few feet above it. They often fished along the 

 line of small breakers close to the shore, and after making such a dive, fre- 

 quently had to get up hurriedly to avoid being overwhelmed by a wave. 



Mr. H. E. Taylor (1893) describes the pelicans' fishing methods, 

 as follows: 



These curious " troopers of the raging main " are great fishers. A thoughtful 

 looking pelican comes flapping along, perhaps about fifteen feet above the 

 water, and when there is a good fish near the surface you see him pause un- 

 certainly in the air and point his long, spear-like bill down to the almost per- 

 pendicular, and in a second his wings slant back, and down he goes with a 

 rush, sending the spray in every direction and stunning his finny quarry be- 

 fore it has time to wink. The great splash hides the fisher entirely from 

 view, and as he reappears he is observed gulping the big mouthful into his 

 convenient pouch. All this occupies but a brief space of time, and with a 

 lumberly struggle of wings, touching the waves with his feet for a short dis- 

 tance, he is off, carrying an important air, as though he had remarkably press- 

 ing business in hand. Occassionally the pelican rests on the water awhile 

 after the capture, looking very sedate and pensive, with his great bill dropped 

 down closely to his breast. Sometimes the fish is found to be so large that 

 the bird is compelled to go through a ludicrous struggle before he can dispose 

 of it, and trying to rise from the water he seems to exert himself painfully. 



Behavior. — Referring to the daily flights of this species to and 

 from its feeding grounds, Mr. Anthony (1889) writes: 



Flocks of from five or six to twenty were constantly arriving from far out 

 at sea, flying in one long line, each following directly in the track of the one 

 next in front, and but just keeping above the water until within a few hun- 

 dred yards of the island, when they rose gradually to the elevation of their 

 nests. Toward night the flocks grew larger, as the birds that had been over 

 to San Quentin Bay for the day's fishing began to arrive. These birds after 

 fishing until sunset along the southern shore of the bay, gather in large 

 flocks, and most of them fly dii-ectly up the bay, or almost at right angles 

 with the course taken by those birds that fly directly toward the island. For 

 some time I was at a loss to know where these flocks were going, as I knew 

 that there was no resting place in that direction; but I found that after 



