Molina's Pelican (Pelecanus thagus). 415 



November^ and towards the middle of the month I found 

 eggs under most of them, but only a few had the full clutch 

 of four. These are white in colour with a very chalky 

 surface. Their size averages 83*7 x 55"7 mm. 



Molina's Pelican sits crowded together in large 

 colonies, very generally quite surrounded by still denser and 

 more extensive colonies of Phalacrocorax bougainvillii. At 

 this season the birds are extremely timid, and rarely allow 

 the near approach of an intruder without taking wing with 

 a recriminating "wauk/^ from their nest; in this respect 

 they are unlike their incubating friendly neighl)ours, the 

 Cormorants, which allow one to come comparatively close 

 to them without leaving the nest. The flight of a parent 

 Pelican from its nest is attended with disastrous results, for 

 the Dominican Gulls and the Gallinazas [Cathartes aura), 

 which are eternally on the watch, descend in an avalanche 

 on the unprotected eggs or squabs, and before one can fully 

 realize what is happening, the fond hopes of the parents are 

 irretrievably dissipated. 



Tiie " klokken " birds occupy their patient hours of incu- 

 bation in preening their feathers, ridding them of the very 

 annoying Mallophaga with which they are infested. They 

 have also a curious habit of every now and then elevating 

 their beaks perpendicularly in the air, sometimes for the 

 luxury of a cavernous yawn, sometimes to clapper their 

 mandibles, while they vibrate nervously, like a loose sail, 

 the flabby sides of their gular pouch. This Pelican's mature 

 plumage is apparently not acquired before it attains the age 

 of three, perhaps of four years. It would require a series of 

 observations extending over half-a-dozen consecutive seasons 

 to determine with certainty this interesting point. At all 

 events, I am able to affirm that among the birds actually 

 incubating on the Chincha Islands in November 1912 there 

 were individuals in three quite diflFerent attires. The majority 

 had the hind neck jet-black, while in others it was sooty 

 grey and in a small number pure white. 



Young birds began emerging from the e^^ towards 

 the end of December. They are hatched in an absolutely 



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