i8 



WILD WINGS 



During the same cruise we visited two other pelican cities 

 of long standing, which were likewise upon low sand-bars. 

 Here, though the wary old pelicans were about, there was 

 not a sign of an egg. The sea may have washed them 

 entirely away. On the west coast of Florida the pelicans are 

 said to nest usually upon low trees, as some few did in the 

 Indian River colony, and thus escape this danger, only to 

 suffer at the hand of man. Though nature may be seem- 

 ingly even more wanton than man in its destructions, this is not 

 an example to be followed, but a warning that if he, too, 

 turns destroyer, the birds can have little chance to survive, 

 and the balance of nature will be overthrown. 





BROWN PELICANS ON THEIR NESTS, AT CLOSE RANGE 



