104 FLORIDA BIRD-LIFE 



stranger may join it and not only share the meal but force 

 the first comer from the table without the old bird appar- 

 ently being aware of the change. 



The young Pelican is not particular as to his choice of 

 food and on four occasions during the absence of the brood- 

 ing parent, which had taken wing at my approach, I saw 

 fully grown birds take half -naked young, about the size of 

 plucked Pigeons, from the nest and devour them, several 

 sometimes struggling to secure the prize. Where ground- 

 nesting Pelicans are disturbed this canibalism must 

 appreciably increase the mortality of the nesting season. 



Young Pelican After Feeding 

 The lump in the bird's throat is a young Pelican it has just swallowed 



Birds which capture their food by diving from the air do 

 not as a rule, so far as my experience goes, inherit this 

 method of feeding but acquire it through imitation of their 

 seniors. The fact that adult Pelicans rarely if ever fish 

 near Pelican Island gave me no opportunity of observing 

 the young with the adult on its feeding grounds. 



The Adult. No one can look a Pelican squarely in the 

 eye without being impressed by the bird's reserved, grave 

 dignity. The same patriarchal bearing in a man suggests 

 years of fruitful experience and the learning of sages and 

 prophets. 



Is the bird a feathered caricature of a human prototype, 



