7.00L0(;iCAL SCKIETV BULLETIN 



'39 



waiting patiently fur 



IHK FKMALL OCCLl'll> IHK NKS r. I'HK MAI.)' 



alights, and it is apparent that acconhnj; tn 

 pelican law, it then becomes anyone's i>r(>pi'rty. 

 and great is the excitement aroused ovn- it. 

 More than once I observe a brooding pelican 

 reach out and slyly abstract a stick or piece of 

 reed fri>m a neighbor's nest, and tuck it beneath 

 her. 



The majoritv of the new arri\als lia\i' their 

 pouches filled with tish. It has been argueel 

 that a pelican cannot fly with fish in its pouch, 

 but here we see birds settling down with unmis- 

 takable bulges in their pouchis. 



There is not the slightest doubt in m\ mind 

 that each bird knows its own offspring, althougli 

 to our uninitiated eyes there seems not the 

 slightest ilistinction between the scores of 

 youngsters about us. .\ |)elican alights near a 

 flock of young birds lar fmni any nest and 

 several waddle toward her with all speed, but 

 she rebuffs all but oiu- or two, over which she 

 sighs in inimitable i)elican fashion and coildles 

 them beside her. 



Although wc had been warned about the un- 

 pleasant fishy odour, we fuid it s c a r c e I \- 

 noticeable. 



A number of half- grown birds have been 

 killed by the recent unusually cold weather, and 

 on the highest stump on the island a somber 

 vulture keeps watch while we remain — Nature's 



board of health 

 our departure. 



Other birtls besiiles pelicans are on 

 the island, hangers-on of the com- 

 munity. Red - winged blackbirds, 

 nesting amr)ng the reeds in the marsh, 

 lly about or alight undisturbed in the 

 \ery midst of the ])elicans. Sander- 

 hngs and least sandpipers speed 

 along the edge of the water, sending 

 the myriads of fiddler crabs scramb- 

 ling to their holes, and feasting on 

 the flies which collect about the 

 refuse pieces of lisli. The white 

 forms of three .\merican egrets pass 

 overhead, and with them our avifauna 

 of Pelican Island is complete. 



For some reason the pelicans do 

 Hot seek their footl near their islanil 

 lioHK', although there is no lack of 

 lish ill the waters of Indian River. 

 W'l- notice but one old bird diving 

 near the island. They JMX-Ier to go up 

 anti down the coast, and generally fish 

 in the waters of the ocean itself. If 

 we encounter birds of this species 

 fort\ miles t(i the north we may be 

 sure that their home is upon this 

 island. Half-way down the Florida 

 Keys, I noticeil several individuals 

 which jirobably belonged to some 

 i\- in that hjcality. 

 It is with the greatest reluctance that we shove 

 off our boat and start on our return, and as the 

 mass of yellow and white heads grows indistinct 

 and the last cliatter of young pelicans is lost in 

 the distance, we try to imagine the history of the 

 Colony during the coining months. The young 

 birds learn to fly. join in the fishing excursions 

 and Soon become masters <.)f their art. The last 

 few youngsters are impatiently crammed with 

 fish day after day by their ])arents, and as the 

 summer's heat increases fewer and fewer birds 

 return at night to the island, until the last weak- 

 ling has flown, anil a great silence succeeds the 

 noise and confusion. .\ hungry vulture picks 

 the last bone and the island is deserted. The 

 nests become levelleil, the grass grows rank and 

 tall, anti until fall. Pelican Island is the haunt 

 of only heron and ibis. 



When the pelicans leave their island, they do 

 not scatter irregularly along the coast, but fly 

 forty or fifty miles to the north, where fish are 

 alwa\s abundant on the Cape Carnarval shoals. 

 Here hundreds of these birds may be seen, rest- 

 ing, fishing, flying, until November, when they 

 all leave for the southwanl. Exactly where'they 

 go we do not know. 



The tribulations of the brown pelican, at least 

 on the east coast of Florida, are i)ast. Thanks 



