1!»17 BIRDS OF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ISLANDS 41 



lU'sts with young on Santa Cniz Island in July, 1909, and G. Willett (18) re-' 

 ported five nests of young on Prinee Islet, San ^Miguel, June 15, 1910. 



In several instances I have noted pelicans beginning to repair nests the last 

 of Ai)ri], while 11. ('. Bnrt (19) saw some at Anacapa flying with sea weed in 

 their bills, ]\Iarch 17, 1911. This, coupled with other observations made by me 

 farther south, in Mexico, indicates that the time for nest building and laying va- 

 ries considerably in different colonies. The nests on the Coronados are made 

 mostly out of sticks from a certain bush that grows there. L. M. Huey (MS) 

 tells me that he has watched the pelicans gathering this material, and that they 

 secure it in the same way that they fish, namely, by flying along and then diving 

 at the bush, landing feet instead of head first, however, and in this w^ay breaking 

 the bush down. He affirms that he has seen opuntia cactus that had evidently 

 been flattened down by the pelicans in the same manner, in mistake for the other 

 l)ush. One can imagine the surprise of the bird after such a maneuver! 



As the pelicans suffer much from the depredations of the gulls, fresh eggs 

 from second layings may be found well into July. The young leave the nest 

 when less than half the size of the parents, and it is quite ludicrous to watch the 

 compact flocks of fluffy, solemn youngsters parading sedately about the rook- 

 eries. AVhen the primaries are quite well grown, they frequently hop off a shelf 

 of rock into one of the many patches of cactus, and it is not unusual to encounter 

 one literally bristling wnth the spines. When able to fly, but before ever having 

 tried to do so, they will sometimes take to the air at the approach of danger, and 

 go careening out to sea on unsteady wings, then manage the turn, and come shoot- 

 ing back on the wind. They are unversed in the art of alighting, however, and 

 sometimes hit the cliff full speed, which is a signal for every gull in sight to sail 

 happily down to investigate the dying bird. When camped near the colonies, 

 one may see a line or wedge of these great birds go silently by at any hour of 

 the night, undoubtedly belated homecomers from some far fishing ground. 



42. Freg-ata aquila (Linnaeus) 



Man-o '-w^vr-bird 



Taehypetes aquilus (1) Cooper, Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., iv, 1870, p. 79. 

 Fregata aquila (2) Grinnell, Pac. Coast Avif., 11, 1915, p. 31. 



J. G. Cooper (1) states that this species was said to occur at Catalina, but 

 of course it could only have been a straggler in that locality. On June 29, 1913, 

 L. Isl. Huey called the attention of F. Stephens, A. van Rossem, D. R. Dickey and 

 myself, to an individual of this species that was soaring over the island towards 

 the south. It was perfectly identified by all of us. 



48. Mergns serrator Linnaeus 



Red-breasted Merganser 



Mergus serrator (/) Grinnell, Pasadena Acad. Sci., ii, 1898, p. 10. (?) Linton, Condor, 



XI, 1909, p. 193. {3) Willett, Pac. Coast Avif., 7, 1912, p. 22. 

 Merganser serrator ( '/) Linton, Condor, x, 1908, p. 126. 



Fairly common winter visitant to the islands. J. Grinnell (1) noted birds 



