72 



THE MUSEUM. 



white by the guano of the birds, and 

 was distinguishable five or six miles 

 distant. As we approached the side 

 of the cliff, which formed a slight an- 

 gle, was seen to be covered with peli- 

 cans, waddling with bills partly open 

 and wings expanded. As the sound 

 of the gun reached them the very 

 ground seemed to rise, the birds whirl- 

 ing slowly upward in great circles, 

 then slowly settling again. 



The rookery, isolated and inacces- 

 sible, occupied probably four or five 

 acres, where the birds seemed to be 

 packed in; and that it was an ancient 

 one there was every reason to believe. 

 Here, in all probability, the young are 

 reared in May. At the time of our 

 visit, the middle of August, the rook- 

 ery appeared to be occupied by old 

 birds and two-thirds grown birds. 



The pelicans here nest on the 

 ground, there being no trees of any 

 kind on this wind-swept island This 

 is in direct contrast to the brown peli- 

 can of the Florida keys, at least in in- 

 stances observed by the writer, where 

 the nests were in mangrove trees which 

 were growing almost in the water. 

 The nests were of the crudest descrip- 

 tion, the eggs retaining their position 

 by virtue of good luck. 



Not ten miles from the pelican rook- 

 ery of Anacapa was seen a series of re- 

 markable caves in the entrance of one 

 of which was a shag rookery. This 

 was discovered by the aid of the odor 

 some distance off. Upon approaching 

 a remarkable overhanging cliff was 

 seen, the summit of which was pos- 

 sibly 500 feet above the water — a stu- 

 pendous pile of rock. Near the base 

 it had been eaten away by the sea, 

 leaving a series of rough shelves or 

 ledges which were occupied by shags 

 old and young. 



Leading directly into the cliff was 

 a large cave, whose side entrance was 

 also pre-emptied by shags, who were, 

 in the main, two-thirds grown. 



After some difficulty, the writer 

 landed and climbed into the rookery. 

 The nests were of kelp and other sea 



weed roughly thrown together and 

 strewn about on the rocks were num- 

 bers of young birds, some nearly de- 

 voured and others partly torn in 

 pieces, showing that some animal 

 preyed upon them. After a careful 

 examination of the surroundings, the 

 writer was forced to think that, half 

 starved, the birds had preyed upon 

 each other and that it was a literal 

 case of the survival of the fittest On 

 the water in the cave floated numbers 

 of dead young shags which had evi- 

 dently fallen in, and unable to swim, 

 had been drowned. Yet the young 

 handled were strong and powerful and 

 used their sharp beaks to good advant- 

 age. 



In the same cave an attractive swal- 

 low with white marking was nesting, 

 its nest being fastened to the walls. 

 They were made almost entirely of the 

 feathers of sea birds, covered on the 

 outside with a light clay veneer, which 

 made them very heavy and also almost 

 indistinguishable from the rock, this 

 probably being the object of the birds 

 — an interesting instance of protective 

 resemblance. The pelicans undoubt- 

 edly use the Anacapa rookery as a 

 nesting place, spreading from there up 

 and down the coast to visit the various 

 feeding grounds. 



The great arch at Anacapa is of it- 

 self a notable object and well worthy 

 a visit, being of large size and pre- 

 senting a grand and picturesque ap- 

 pearance from either side. It well il- 

 lustrates the manner of disintegrading 

 which is going on in these islands, 

 which are all honeycombed in the 

 most remarkable manner, presenting 

 a series of marine caves, which for 

 size and interest have no counterpart 

 in this country. 



The east point of Anacapa, or the 

 pelican rookery, originally had four 

 arches where now there is one. These 

 gradually were worn away until the 

 top fell in, divorcing the section from 

 the island, but preserving the mesa 

 line or angle exact. 



I 



