6 
WILD WINGS 
on the bushes were built of sticks, weed-stems, and grass, and 
were quite bulky, while the ground nests were much smaller, 
composed largely of soft materials. The contents of the nests 
were greatly varied. Though the nesting-season of the peli¬ 
cans begins as early as November or December, many of the 
nests still had their comj^lements 
of great, dirty-white eggs, some 
of them comparatively clean and 
fresh. These may have been 
second or third layings, owing 
to previous deprivations, though 
to what extent individual peli¬ 
cans may be irregular in their 
nesting-time, I cannot say. In 
other nests, there were young, 
in all stages, from the naked, 
newly hatched, and rather re¬ 
pulsive-looking callow bird-life, to the more sightly, yet not 
altogether handsome, downy stage. Still other nests were 
empty, but that their mission had not been fruitless was evi¬ 
dent from the numbers of well-grown young that were running 
about in all directions. Evidently they were all but able to 
fly, as their wing-feathers seemed to be well grown, though 
on the bodies the feathers were still more or less downv and 
ragged. In color they were very different from their parents, 
being of a lighter gray, and mainly white on the under parts. 
These young pelicans afforded us quite a little amusement. 
Though they evidently inherited not a little of the true j^eli- 
can gravity of demeanor, their childishness could not but show 
out. For one thing, they were, like most children, eminently 
social. They made me think of gangs of bovs upon the street 
corners, as they congregated here and there in groups, chat¬ 
tering away in peculiar, guttural tones, indi^’iduals falling 
NEWLY HATCHED YOUNG PELICANS 
