PELICAN ISLAND 207 



ground or in the trees respectively Or, assuming 

 that the same individuals might build a stick nest 

 in the bushes one year and a straw nest on the 

 ground the next, we have an unusual variation in 

 the character of the nest of the same species. In 

 the case of the Fish Hawks of Plumb Island the 

 birds evinced an appreciation of the protection 

 afforded them by the owner of the island by often 

 placing their nests on the ground. Photographs 

 of these nests, however, made by Dr. C. S. Allen, 

 show that the birds employed as much material 

 when nesting on the ground as when nesting in 

 trees, the eggs on the ground being surrounded by 

 a useless mass of large sticks. Certain of the 

 birds, therefore, in response to new conditions, had 

 chosen new nesting sites, but had not as yet made 

 corresponding changes in the character of their 

 nests. 



When the nest is completed, as we have seen, 

 from one to three eggs are laid. The period of incu- 

 bation is probably about four weeks, and a careful 

 listener may detect the presence of a hatching egg 

 by the choking bark which the young Pelican begins 

 to utter as soon as he has made an opening in the 

 shell which holds him. When he has finally freed 

 himself and appears in the world, he is about as 

 unattractive a bit of bird life as can well be con- 

 ceived. 106 His dark, purple skin is perfectly naked, 

 he is blind, and when he is deprived of shade pro- 

 vided by the brooding parent, he twists restlessly 

 ..about in the nest, uttering the same choking bark 

 with which he first greeted the light. 



Even at this early age he displays one of the 



