ZOC)LO(;iCAI. SOCIETY BULLETIN 



'35 



an immense mass of these l)irils, wliicli icradually 

 divides into t\M I |iiiitii>ns and \vc iintl (uirselves 

 almost surrounded by a living harrier of tlucks — 

 hundreds upon hundreils of hlue-l)ills. They 

 mass closer and closer as we ai>j)roach, uhtii 

 suddenly those nearest us begin to beat tlie 

 water with their wings and feet, and instantly, 

 with a great splashing and roar of wings, the 

 entire flock rises, settling again a half-nnlc or 

 more away. Here in this shallow iidet these 

 birds find abundant fceiling grounds, anil lure 

 they spend the winter and earh' s]iring, until the 

 time comes for them to scatter to their breeding 

 grounds in the far north. 



The first hint that we are luaring our destin- 

 ation conu-s from high in the air. where a maze 



is the famous breeding jilace of the brown peli- 

 cans. The history of the origin, rise, develop- 

 ment and tall of a nati<.)n c)r people is far more 

 interesting than the sjjoratlic accounts of uncon- 

 nected epochs, and here, what a story might be 

 told of the founding and growth of this colony 

 of birds, of its struggles against dangers, ele- 

 mental, human and otherwise ! \Ve know 

 nothing of where the first birds came from, only 

 that the colony was flourishing at least thirty 

 years ago. How much longer it has e.xisteil, no 

 one kiKJWs. 



This irri'gular islet was fornu-rl_\ wooded with 

 live oak and mangrove, but now there are but a 

 few stumps standing, dead anil half rotten, their 

 whitened limbs sjirawling upward as if clutching 



TUt: (.Ri M M' i~ iiii'i'i N i;v 



of birds circle about each other, buz/ard-like. 

 The glass shows these to be brown ]>elicans. .\s 

 we watch we see others rise ajijiarently from tlu' 

 rivi-r and join in this aerial maniever, while now 

 and then a number of birds iletach themselves 

 from the main boiiy, fall into line one behiml 

 the other and start towanl the ocean, jiassing 

 out of sight behind the ilark line of palms and 

 live oaks, which marks the |)eninsula. At our 

 approach the cloud of birds circles lower and 

 lower and soon ilisappears altogether. 



Pelican Island itself is very incons])ieuous. 

 and not until we are close to it do w t- realize 

 that this low islet of perhaps three acres exttnt 



at the air for support as they tremble under the 

 clumsy alighting of the pelicans. There are 

 scores of islands no different from this, scattered 

 up and down the Indian River, antl yet the peli- 

 cans when tliey had once selected this as a 

 nesting site, could not be driven away, although 

 plume hunters shot them by the hundred, .some- 

 times reducing their numbers to a scantv rem- 

 nant. The weight of their nests gradually 

 levelled all the trees, so that of late years the 

 birds Iia\e hail to bring much of their nesting 

 material from the main shore, over half a mile 

 away, and build their flirnsy nests on the low 

 ground. This i.liange in habits, while it showed 



