74 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 18-N0. 5 



my eggs in state on the table in front of me, 

 I concluded that it was all right anyway, and 

 I sat and grinned at mother and told the 

 tale of the day and the noon lunch that we 

 must have eaten before 10.30, and expati- 

 ated on the triumph at school on the mor- 

 row with a blissful content which only you 

 who ha\e had similar experiences can ap- 

 preciate. A. C. To~Mnsend. 

 Washington. 



[I trust that Mr. Townsend will send more 

 of his delightfully written experiences. 



Nesting of the Brown Pelican. 



In 1 89 1 I was spending some months in 

 Florida, and learning of a large rookery of 

 the Brown Pelican, several of us resolved to 

 visit the spot. Accordingly, on February 

 17, six of us sailed for the island in the 

 yacht "Lida," fully prepared to secure speci- 

 mens of birds and eggs. I will describe this 

 island as to locality, as there are numerous 

 other breeding grounds in the State. The 

 spot known as Pelican Island is about six 

 miles south of Uricco* on the Indian river, 

 which, as the readers may know, is only a 

 lagoon, but has received the name of river 

 from its long, narrow, shape. This strip of 

 salt water lies along the east coast of the 

 State and is separated from the Atlantic by 

 a long narrow strip of land, which is inter- 

 sected at wide and irregular inten-als by 

 inlets to the sea. 



When we came near the island, a low, flat 

 and irregular piece of soil of doubtful forma- 

 tion, at no place above four feet elevation at 

 low tide, the birds rose in great numbers. 

 But it was only when we took the small boat 

 and approached the nests that the scene be- 

 came impressive. The huge birds raised in 

 vast flocks and with a noise like thunder. 

 They flew about, and mostly settled again in 



*A little south o( 28 degrees north latitude, Ilrcvnrd County 

 Fla. 



the water just out of shot-gun range. We 

 variously estimated their numbers. Some 

 placed the number of birds at 10,000, but I 

 feel safe in saying there were easily half 

 that number. We watched their peculiar 

 ways of fishing, which are worthy of study, 

 and I wish you could afford space for a de- 

 scription. Many 6f the birds, nesting ones 

 probably, flew within range, and fell easily 

 to the guns of the party, and we secured an 

 abundance of specimens, in fact many more 

 than were needed. The writer tried hard 

 to stop the slaughter, but failed miserably ; 

 the carnage only ceasing when the ammu- 

 nition gave out, and the blood-thirsty north- 

 ern tourists had no further means of butch- 

 ering. This practice, a most pernicious one, 

 is the direct means of decimating the bird 

 fauna of the South. Nearly all northern 

 tourists think that Florida birds are there 

 for the purpose of gratifying their love of 

 shooting. The result is very great destruc- 

 tion. 



There were several hundred nests, all told ; 

 mostly built on the ground, sand, generally 

 within a few yards of the water, and often 

 not over six inches above high tide. The 

 nests were of coarse dried grass of different 

 kinds, and when first built appeared to have 

 a nest-form, but in time, especially after the 

 young birds had gained some size, lost all 

 resemblance of a nest and were spread out 

 in a most shiftless manner. A few nests 

 were built in mangroves at the edge of the 

 island, and these were largely composed of 

 twigs for a foundation, but the upper part 

 was as shiftless and dirty as the surface 

 structures in a short time. The island was 

 at the most four acres in extent. 



Considering the number of birds, there 

 were very few nests, and my ojjinion was 

 formed that the frequent incursions on the 

 site by the considerate bird protectors ( ?) 

 was the direct cause. Many nests contained 

 both eggs and young, while some nests held 

 young two weeks or more old. These big 

 young, covered with down, and, sitting up. 



