PELICAN ISLAND 



201 



beats, and then spread them and sailed for as many 

 seconds. 



Generally they headed for the ocean, there to 

 follow the line of the beach, sometimes high in the 

 air, at others low over the curling surf, as their 

 progress was aided or retarded by the wind. How 

 far they went I can not say, but at a point ten miles 

 north of Pelican Island 

 many have been seen still 

 winging their way to the 

 northward, doubtless to 

 some point where fish 

 were abundant. Not 

 once during the four 

 days passed off Pelican 

 Island did I see a Peli- 

 can fishing over the sur- 

 rounding waters. It was 

 not because they were 

 lacking in fish, for they 

 contained a plentiful sup- 

 ply of food ; and I could 

 explain the unexpected 

 abstinence of the birds 

 only on the supposition 

 that the fish in the im- 

 mediate vicinity of the 

 nesting ground were left 

 for the early efforts of the 

 young birds before they were strong enough of wing 

 to accompany their parents to distant fishing grounds. 



Brown Pelicans fish at a height of from twenty 

 to thirty feet above the water, not hovering, but 



105. Same as No. 104, seen from 

 above, to show extent to which 

 sides of the lower bill are spread. 



