\ORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



71 



ground of the White Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, American Herring Gull 

 and other species of water birds. As will be seen in the picture, the ground is dotted 

 all over with the nests and eggs of these birds. It was about the middle of June, and 

 the eggs proved to> be fresh. I am informed by Prof. Marcus E. Jones that several 

 thousand of White Pelicans are permanent residents of Great Salt Lake, Utah, 

 breeding on the islands twenty miles out in the lake. They begin to lay about the 

 first of May or two weeks earlier, according to the season, and fresh eggs are fre- 

 quently found as late as July. The usual number of eggs, he says, is two, rarely 

 tiiree or four. The birds make their nests on the ground between the clumps of 

 white sage (Atriplex con fcrtif alia) that grow on the islands. They scrape 

 the sandy soil into a heap about six inches on the outside of the nests and arrange 

 dry twigs without system; the nests are about a foot in diameter with a slight de- 

 pression at the top. Prof. Jones says the birds travel sixty miles to catch fish for 



WHITE PELICAN (FromBrehm) 



