of Western Greece. 395 



Time was, and not so long ago, when Pelecanus crisjms lived 

 in hundreds all the year round, from the rocky promontory of 

 Kourtzolari, hard by the mouth of the Acheloiis, on the western 

 extremity of the lagoon, to the islands of TEtolico, up its northern 

 arms, and, on the east, to the great mud-Hats which mark the 

 limits of the present delta of the Phidaris. Now-a-days a solitary 

 individual may be seen fishing here and there throughout the la- 

 goon, but the small remnant of this once mighty host have made 

 their last stand upon the islands which divide the Gulf of Proco- 

 panisto from the Gulf of ^Etolico. Here, towards the end of Fe- 

 bruary last, the community of Pelicans constructed a group of 

 seven nests, ^ — a sad falling-off from the year 1858, when thirty- 

 five nests, the remains of wliich had not then disappeared, were 

 grouped in contiguous proximity upon a neighbouring islet. It 

 needs not the nose of a pointer to discover the locality, even if 

 the lai'ge white birds themselves were not a sufficient guide. As 

 we approached the spot in a boat the Pelicans left their nests, 

 and taking to the water, sailed away like a fleet of stately ships, 

 leaving their newly-built establishment in possession of the in- 

 vader. The boat grounded in 2 or 3 feet of mud, and when the 

 party had floundered through this, the seven nests were discovered 

 to be empty. A fisherman had plundered them that morning, 

 taking from each nest one egg, all of which we of course re- 

 covered. The nests were constructed in a great measure of the 

 old reed palings used by the natives for enclosing the fish, 

 though with these were mixed such pieces of the vegetation of 

 the islet as were suitable for the purpose. The seven nests were 

 contiguous, and disposed in the shape of an irregular cross, — the 

 navel of the cross, which w^as the tallest nest, being about 30 

 inches high, the two next in line on each side being about 2 feet 

 high, the two nests forming each arm of the cross a few inches 

 lower, and the two extremes at either end being about 14 inches 

 from the ground. These lattei', it is presumed, were intended 

 for the junior j)artners of the firm, in the same way that the 

 great bear of nursery tales has a big seat, his wife a middling 

 seat, and the little bear a small seat. The eggs are chalky, like 

 those of the Pelecanida generally, very rough in texture, and 

 some of them much streaked with blood. 



