ID 



the game called hy boys " follow the leader," as they alternately 

 sail and flap their wings, each one doing so on arriving at the 

 exact spot where the leader commenced ; they also, if the sea is 

 at all rough, follow the undulations of the waves, rising and fall- 

 ino- with them. One of the most sinjTjular circumstances connect- 

 ed with this bird is mentioned by Audubon, that of the Black- 

 headed Gulls alighting on the heads of the Pelicans after they 

 have made a i)lunge. I have seen as many as fifty pairs engaged 

 in this singular manoeuvre ; the Pelicans appearing to be wholly 

 inditferent to the attentions of their more agile comi)anions. It 

 would seem at first that the weight of the Gull would be rather 

 disagreeable to the Pelican, but I presume that it is not, as the 

 latter never attempts in any way to dislodge it. The plunge of 

 the Pelican is quite singular in its style, and I could not for a long 

 time divest myself of the expectation of seeing one of them break 

 its neck. They never give any indication of being about to 

 plunge, as all other birds do, either by hovering or sailing in cir- 

 cles, but when apparently flying with no other intention than that 

 of moving from place to place, they suddenly fall as if struck with 

 an apoplexy, striking the water with so much force, and making 

 such a splash, that I was unable to determine whether they im- 

 mersed the whole body or not. It is not uncommon to see one of 

 these birds with a hole through the membrane forming the pouch 

 caused by the spine of some fish, and I was at first quite puzzled 

 by occasionally seeing one with a bright red throat, until on 

 shooting one I found that it was caused by blood from a wound of 

 this description. I have visited a great number of the breeding- 

 places of this bird, from the Tortugas to New Smyrna. At the 

 Tortugas I found only a few pairs breeding, on the bushes at 

 East Key, the principal resort of the Noddies and Sooty Terns. 

 I found them breeding in larger and larger numbers as 1 went 

 north, until I arrived at Indian River, where I found the most 

 extensive breeding-place that I visited ; this was on a small island, 

 called Pelican Island, about twenty miles north of Fort Capron. 

 The nests here were placed on the tops of the mangrove-trees, 

 which were about of the size and shape of large apple-trees. 

 Breeding in company with the Pelican w^ere thousands of Herons, 

 Peale's Egret, the Rufous Egret and Little White Egret, with a 

 few pairs of the Great Blue Heron, and Roseate Spoonbills ; and 



