148 IN AUSTRALIAN WILDS 



the island, but none contained eggs or young birds. 

 We were not much surprised, for, in 1910, Pelican 

 Island was raided by men who killed the nesting 

 birds. It had been alleged that Pelicans were a 

 menace to the fishing industry, and war was waged 

 against them. Among the empty nests, under 

 bushes, and along the barren shore, we found head- 

 less bodies, pathetic bundles of blood-stained feathers 

 and bleaching bones. We wondered why the birds 

 had gathered around this place of slaughter when it 

 had clearly been abandoned as a breeding haunt. 



Jim suggested that it was "too early for eggs," 

 but offered to take us to Jack's Point Island, some 

 two miles distant, on the chance of finding a rookery 

 there. We decided to go. The boat rocked on the 

 choppy waters, and I was again kept busy with the 

 baling tin during the passage. Not a bird was seen 

 on or near the islet, yet it was the site of a rookery. 

 There were several hundreds of old nests, and forty- 

 two new ones. The latter formed four fairly straight 

 rows in the lee of a low ridge, and nearly all contained 

 eggs, apparently fresh. Here and there on the out- 

 skirts of the rookery lay an empty shell with a jagged 

 hole in one side the work of Crows. It was pleasing 

 to know that the Pelicans of the Coorong had estab- 

 lished a new colony, despite the ghastly work of the 

 destroyers in the previous year. After our return 

 to Melbourne news came that the Commissioner of 

 Crown Lands had arranged to place the bird islands 

 of the Coorong under the control of the South Aus- 

 tralian Ornithological Association, as lessees, and that 

 notice boards were to be erected, as a warning to 

 vandals. This was fairly satisfactory, only notice 

 boards cannot be relied upon to check people who have 

 no respect for laws. Rangers must be in charge of 

 sanctuaries if wild creatures are to enjoy complete 

 protection. Poachers and plume-hunters are not the 

 only enemies to be feared. A farmer once boasted 



