FISHERIES AND GUANO INDUSTRY OF PERU. 361 
made it impossible to arrive at a more definite estimate. Probably by the fol- 
lowing March, after the rearing of a brood of young, this number was nearly 
doubled, but it can hardly be supposed there were so many as in the preceding 
March. 
It is believed that a proper consideration of the welfare of the pelican would 
promise much benefit to the country. . It may be expected that with the most 
careful protection, the bird would increase materially in numbers in the north, 
and even more so in the south, so that in time the pelican would have a much 
higher value and would take a rank nearer to that of the cormorant. 
THE GANNET. 
The common “piquero,”’ a species of gannet (Sula variegata Tschudi), which 
von Tschudi considered the most important bird (and this view seems to have 
been generally accepted), is still important, though of far less value than the 
other two species mentioned. However, on account of its habit of nesting on 
the cliffs and other comparatively inaccessible places, the great proportion of 
the guano is now lost in the sea, and it is doubtful whether the bird has ever 
had a commercial value comparable to the cormorant or the pelican. (Fig. 10, 
pl. xvi.) With the better systematization of the guano industry in future years, 
much of this guano now lost might be saved by the construction of shelves or 
other collectors at the bases of the cliffs. 
Von Tschudi found that a single piquero in captivity would produce 3% 
to 5 ounces of guano per day. If each bird leaves about its nest 2 ounces of 
guano daily, 1,000,000 piqueros would leave 20,000 tons per year. The piquero 
is so abundant and so generally distributed along the coast that 1,000,000 would 
seem a low estimate of the number of birds on even a portion of the coast. 
The piquero breeds throughout the year and the nests therefore are always in use. 
THE PENGUIN AND THE PETREL. 
Only two other species require particular mention. The penguin, or “‘ pajaro- 
nifio” (Spheniscus humboldti Meyen), is now of almost negligible value, but was 
formerly so abundant as to be highly ranked by Raimondi. ‘The rookeries are 
confined to the caverns, and the guano is considered very good, although there 
is little of it. 
The ‘‘potoyunco,” a species of petrel (Halodroma garnoti Lesson) of oceanic 
habit except for its nesting in subterranean homes, is still significant, but in 
relatively low degree. The nesting places are found on many islands, however, 
especially on the lofty San Gallan. Great areas of the surface of the ground, 
from the lower hillsides to the tops of the peaks that are usually capped with 
clouds, are undermined by nesting chambers of these birds. They will burrow 
indifferently through the hard crust of sand on the hillsides or beneath the 
