PELICAN ISLAND 203 



wings as they dashed the water over themselves 

 could be heard at a great distance. The bath 

 concluded, the birds gathered in rows on the sand 

 bars jutting out from the island, to vigorously 

 preen their feathers, and doze in the sun ; and then, 

 at irregular intervals, bird after bird, prompted ap- 

 parently purely by a love of exercise, or tempted 

 by a possible resulting exhilaration, mounted 

 slowly into the air until they had attained a great 

 height, when, spreading their wings, they sailed 

 majestically about on broad circles for hours at 

 a time. I was at first inclined to connect this 

 habit with the season of courtship, but observing 

 several birds of the year, who had but recently 

 learned to fly, join their elders, I came to the con- 

 clusion that the habit had no sexual significance, 

 and was indulged in solely because the birds en- 

 joyed it. 



In the afternoon the fishing parties again started 

 out, and after the resulting catch had been delivered 

 to the clamoring young, the Pelican's day's work 

 was concluded, and he betook himself to his favor- 

 ite roost for the night. At dark a few Cormorants 

 returned to the branches of a dead tree, a single 

 Frigate, after carefully and repeatedly reconnoiter- 

 ing the situation, decided to take lodgings on a 

 neighboring stub, and a Pelican Island day was 

 ended. 



Whether, as in the case of the Terns and Gannets 

 previously mentioned, the Pelicans all return to 

 their island on a certain day I can not say. Proba- 

 bly, however, the short duration of their migratory 

 journey, and the fact that they come from both the 



