THE MUSEUM. 



71 



vaceous upper parts, and in the great- 

 ly reduced amount of black in the tail. 

 It doubtless intergrades with richmd- 

 soitii at the northward, Mystic Lake 

 specimens being fairly good intermed- 

 iates, though much nearer vcntoruju 

 than richanlsonii. 

 (To be continued in April Miiseinn.) 



A Great Pelican Rookery. 



BY C. F. HUI.DEK. 



It has always been somewhat of a 

 mystery where the numerous brown 

 pelicans, so common on the Southern 

 Californian coast, made their head- 

 quarters During the summer months 

 these lumbering birds which bear so 

 grotesque a resemblance to some of 

 the old pictures of the dodo, come into 

 the little bays alongshore and engage 

 in a vigorous warfare upon the small 

 fry— anchovies, herring, smelt and 

 young mackerel — which are found 

 there in such vast quantities. 



The pelicans are very tame, and 

 pursue their avocation within a few 

 yards of vessels lying in the bays. 



Their method of obtaining food is 

 arduous in the extreme, and it is only 

 by continual vigilance that they make 

 a living. In hunting for food they fly 

 heavily, twenty or thirty feet above 

 the water, the long and slender bill, 

 from which depends a capacious pouch, 

 pointing downward, the small brown 

 eyes on the watch for the expectant 

 school of fish. Should it appear, the 

 bird apparently throws itself over, 

 then plunges downward, head first, 

 with mandibles apart. The height of 

 the dive in many instances carries the 

 bird completely out of sight beneath 

 the water, from which it rises in a few 

 seconds, and is it has been so fortun- 

 ate as to engulf a sardine or several in 

 its capacious mouth, it toSses them up 

 seemingly from the pouch, by throw- 

 ing the bill aloft,, then swallows the 

 morsels with self-congratulatory wag- 

 gings of the diminutise tail, suggestive 

 of its satisfaction. 



The capture of game Is not always 



a guarantee of a feast. The laughing 

 gull, common in these waters, preys 

 upon the pelican or robs it systemat- 

 ically whenever it can. This it ac- 

 complishes by alighting on the peli- 

 can's head or back as it rises, and as 

 the clumsy bird attempts to arrange 

 the morsel in its mouth preparatory to 

 swallowing, the gull reclines forward 

 and snatches it from between the long 

 mandibles and flies away with exult- 

 ant cries. 



It has been supposed by many that 

 the brown pelicans make their head- 

 quarters in Lower California, coming 

 north in the spring; but during the 

 past season, the writer, during a cruise 

 among the islands off Santa Barbara 

 County, found the rookery of these 

 birds. The islands which constitute 

 the group are divided into two series: 

 — the Santa Catalina off Los Angeles 

 County, lying according to the chart, 

 in what is called the Santa Catalina 

 Channel. These islands include San 

 Clemente, Santa Catalina, San Nic- 

 olas and Santa Barbara. Seventy- 

 five miles to the north lies a second 

 division comprising Santa Cruz, Santa 

 Rosa, San Aliguel and Anacapa. The 

 latter is a long, slender, rocky island, 

 rising from the water's edge to a mesa 

 between one and two hundred feet in 

 height at the east end. The highest 

 portion recalled the famous enchanted 

 mesa, as it was evidently inacessible 

 except by using ropes and a kite. 



The island is divided into three dis- 

 tinct portions by the sea. The ex- 

 treme end is flat, terminating in a pin- 

 nacle of rock, while through the cen- 

 ■ter is a lofty arch, high and broad 

 enough to admit the passage of a large 

 yacht, through which the sea runs. 

 The mesa was covered with birds, and 

 as we run near and fired the yacht's 

 cannon there arose a cloud so vast 

 that it fairly colored the air. Every 

 bird had a long bill, and it suddenly 

 dawned upon us that here was the 

 home of the brown pelican on the 

 Southern California coast. The great 

 ledge of rock, flat on top, was colored 



