GKXEllAL ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 83 



GENERAL ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. I. 



edited by walter e. bryant. 



Nesting Habits of the California Brown Pelican. 

 (Pelecanus calif ornicus.) 



By a. W. AjsTHOny. 



It is my impression that no description has been given of 

 the eggs of tliis species since its separation from the Atlan- 

 tic form; at any rate, papers that treat npon the subject are 

 not so common as to make another siiperfluons and a few 

 notes upon the habits of the pelican devoid of interest. 



The largest colony that I have found thus far was discov- 

 ered on San Martin Island April 12th, 1888. The island of 

 San Martin lies about five miles off shore and nearly due 

 west from San Quentin, Lower California, in about Lat. 

 30^ 33' N. With the exception of a few acres of sand on 

 the east and northeastern sides, it is composed entirely of 

 lava, which has escaped from an extinct volcano on the 

 southern end of the island; the greatest elevation is found 

 at this point, which is perhaps 450 feet above the sea. The 

 entire island comprises about 1200 acres. Three days were 

 spent here in investigating the bird life, most of which time 

 was expended in making life a burden to a colony of about 

 five hundred pelicans, which were found nesting on the 

 north end of the island. The nests were located in groups 

 of twenty or thirty about a quarter of a mile from the beach 

 and about 250 feet above the^sea. They were largely com- 

 posed of the accumulated filth of several generations of 

 pelicans, and many of the older ones had obtained a height 

 of three 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 



2d Ser. Vol. II. October 11, 1889. 



