LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 299 



five or six wand-like passes of its upraised head, the advancing bird pauses, 

 vvlien botli birds, witla apparent unconcern, begin to preen their feathers, and a 

 moment later the bird that has been on duty steps off the nest, and tlie new 

 comer at once takes its place. This was the " ceremony " in its full develop- 

 ment; often it was not so complete. Doubtless it possesses some sexual sig- 

 nificance, and observation points to the conclusion that the relieving bird is 

 the male and that the ceremony is omitted when he gives place to his mate. 



Food. — The food of the brown pelican consists entirely of fish, 

 chiefly menhaden, mullets, and other fish unfit for human food. 

 Complaints that it is very destructive to food fish, and therefore un- 

 worthy of protection, have been proven as not well founded by an 

 exhaustive investigation conducted by the Department of Conserva- 

 tion in Louisiana, in cooperation with the Biological Survey. 



Its methods of fishing is more effective than it is graceful ; it ap- 

 pears to be quite awkward and clumsy, even ludicrous, but it is 

 nearly always successful in accomplishing the desired result. It flies 

 along over the water at heights varying from 10 feet to 50 feet above 

 it. Mr. John T. Nichols (1918) has published the following in- 

 teresting observations, made by Dr. Russell J. Coles : 



When these birds are feeding, the distance of their flight above the surface 

 of the water is carefully regulated by the depth at which the fish are swimming 

 and one, who has not especially studied this point by many careful observa- 

 tions, does not idealize how accurately this is gauged. I have often seen a 

 brown pelican suddenly dart forward and upward ten to fifteen feet higher 

 and circle back over his prey before making his plunge, indicating that the fish 

 was swimming at a greater depth than expected. 



The plunge is interesting in that it is always headed down wind. As it 

 thrusts its neck down, its wing are three-quarters closed and extended back- 

 ward as far as possible, thus throwing the center of gravity in front of any wing 

 support, and the following wind instantly catches in the partly closed wing tips 

 and completes the inversion, then by deft manipulation of its almost closed 

 wings, it maintains its perpendicular position as it volplanes downward. 



It is necessary for such a heavy bird to rise against the wind, therefore, it 

 is only a case of instinctive preparedness that the brown pelican always rises 

 to the surface headed up-wind, in order to be ready for instant flight. 



Thus, by entering the water down wind and emerging from it up 

 wind, the pelican makes a complete turnover or turnabout under 

 Avater ; many writers have referred to this, and almost every observer 

 has noticed it. The buoyancy of the bird's body brings it quickly to 

 the surface, where it shakes the water from its plumage, points its 

 bill first downward to drain out the water, and then upward to swal- 

 low the fish. It is then ready to rise against the wind and look for 

 more fish. As it emerges from the water with a well-filled pouch it 

 is often preyed upon by its companions, the laughing gulls and man- 

 o'-war-birds. The former have even been seen to alight upon the 

 pelican's head and steal the fish protruding from its bill. 



