84 FLORIDA BIRD-LIFE 



lirst saw Pelican island, there were still enough mangroves 

 to aliord man} of the birds the arboreal type of nesting site 

 characteristic of their species ; but the birds wliich could not 

 secure a building lot in a tree were forced to place their 

 house upon the ground. 



This transition period has now passed. The mangroves, 

 here near the northern limit of their range, have suffered by 

 the "freezes" of recent Florida winters, while their exces- 

 sive use by the birds — which in some instances placed as 

 many as seven nests in a single tree — has prevented their 

 recovering from the elf ects of low temperature. 



From a mound of glossy green foliage Pelican Island, 

 within a period of lifty years, has thus become a treeless 

 mud-fiat, largely grass-grown, but still it is beloved by the 

 Pelicans, the impelling motive which prompts them to return 

 to this i)articular spot being evidently stionger than that 

 which induced them to nest in trees. 



I know of only two occasions when the l^elicans failed to 

 establish their yearly nursery on the islet of their choice. 

 Once they were driven away by that curse of Florida, 

 irresponsible, gun-bearing tourists. Landing on the island 

 they shot the inhabitants in large numbers and left them to 

 rot in the mud. The survivors retreated but established 

 quarters on the nearest islet. 



The second time the Pelicans deserted their ancestral 

 home, they were driven away not by enemies but by friends. 

 Prior to the passage of the present admirable bird-protec- 

 tive law in Florida, the Pelicans were at the mercy of every 

 man with a gun. A demand from milliners arose for their 

 wing-quills, and it was feared that at any time Pelican 

 Island might be attacked. An effort was made to buy it from 

 the government, but the red-tape knots of the Land Office 

 defied untj^ing until, on presentation of the case to Presi- 

 dent Roosevelt, he, with characteristic directness, severed 

 them by declaring Pelican Island a Federal Reserve. The 

 National Association of Audubon Societies, co-operating 



U.. 



