46 HISTORY OF THE 



from the shore, form into line in accordance with the sinuosities 

 of the beach, each facing shoreward and waiting their leader's 

 signal to start. When this is given, all is commotion; the birds, 

 rapidly striking the water with their wings, throw it high 

 above them, and plunge their heads in and out, fairly making 

 the water foam, as they move in an almost unbroken line, fill- 

 ing their pouches as they go. When satisfied with their catch, 

 they wade and waddle into line again upon the beach, where 

 they remain to rest, standing or sitting as suits them best, until 

 they have leisurely swallowed the fishes in their nets; then, if 

 undisturbed, they generally rise in a flock, and circle for a long 

 time high in air. 



Off the south coast of Florida (a coral formation) the shoal 

 water often extends out for miles, and the tide is scarcely per- 

 ceptible. There the birds have no occasion to dive, but gather 

 their food by coursing, and in such places the Brown Pelicans, 

 so expert in dropping upon their prey in deep water, are forced, 

 in order to save their necks unbroken, to feed in like manner; 

 this is especially noticeable in the shallow ponds in the Ever- 

 glades. Several years ago, in the month of September, I had 

 the pleasure of observing a small flock of the birds fishing in 

 the Neosho River, Kansas. When, late at evening, they were 

 forced by tired wings to stop in their southward flight, the place 

 selected was in still, deep water at the head of a fall or rapids 

 in the stream, where the water for some fifteen rods, and with a 

 depth of about six inches, was rippling and dashing over the 

 rocks, a natural feeding ground for the fishes. The birds after 

 first bathing and dressing their feathers, giving particular atten- 

 tion to their primaries, without any unity of action, as hunger 

 moved them, floated down over the rapids, picking up the fishes 

 here and there, until the still water below was reached, when 

 they would rise and fly back, to float down again, leisurely re- 

 peating this mode of fishing until it was quite dark. 



The birds winter upon the seaboard in large numbers, seldom 

 going south of the Gulf coast or the Gulf of California; breed- 

 ing chiefly upon the islands in the large inland lakes, from Min- 

 nesota and California northward. They commence nesting on 



