THE O0LOG1ST. 



s;i 



Nearly all of the nests were built on 

 the ground, although a few dozen were 

 iu the branches of the black mangrove 

 trees which grew scantily on the north 

 shore of the island. The nests in the trees 

 were more substantial structures than 

 those on the sand but were of much the 

 same materials, sticks, coarse grass, 

 and rank weed stalks. The sticks, 

 some of which were fully a yard long, 

 were often quite an inch thick. The 

 birds evidently get the nesting mater- 

 ials in part from the main shore or the 

 other islands a< tnere is not enough on 

 the island to furnish them all, particul- 

 arly iu the line of twigs. 



Some of the nests in the low man- 

 groves were not more than a foot across 

 and were mainly simple platforms with 

 very slight hollows. The tree nests 

 were generally in the lower branches 

 and from two to eight feet up, but a 

 few were ten or twelve feet up, and 

 some in the very tops of these naturally 

 low trees, all of fifteen feet or a little 

 more. t 



Ou first lauding on this island of four 

 or five acres we found all the nests in 

 the trees to contain young or eggs about 

 ready to hatch, and were disappointed, 

 but on crossing to the south side we 

 found eggs iu plenty, as well as young 

 of all sizes up to three weeks. This led 

 us to think that the first eggs of the 

 rookery must have been laid as early as 

 the last of December. 



Three eggs appeared to be the aver- 

 age number, although many nests con- 

 tained ouly two and some only one egg 

 advanced in incubation and a few held 

 four but no nests contained five. There 

 must have been two hundred nests 

 which contained eggs or young, some 

 containing both eggs and young from a 

 week to ten days old. Again nests held 

 birds which varied a week or two in 

 ages, and in one instance the dissimil- 

 arity in size was so great that the larger 

 young one was endeavoring to swallow 

 his diminutive squab relative. 



We were informed that when the eggs 

 roll from the nests there are frequent 

 lights as to the right of possession. 

 This theory to account for the variation 

 in the ages of birds in a nest may be 

 correct, but would seem invalidated by 

 the fact that no nests were found to 

 hold over four eggs or young or both. 

 For we may reason that some birds of an 

 unusually pugnacious disposition would 

 certainly secure more than their share 

 of eggs. Nevertheless, the habit of 

 stealing may obtain and the Pelicans 

 know full well when the complement of 

 four eggs is reached. At any rate the 

 eggs get changed about, in some inex- 

 plicable manner, and the emerging of 

 the young varies much in time. I have 

 thought that possibly some boy visitors 

 to the island in a sense of joke, or some 

 naturalist, for experiment, may have 

 changed the eggs; but still the fact that 

 four is the largest set, and we found a 

 set of four fresh, even sized and even 

 shaped eggs in one nest would indicate 

 that this is the limit. 



In the warm climate where these 

 birds nest, the thermometer indicating 

 over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the sun 

 at the time of our visit the old Peli- 

 cans do not need to incubate during the 

 day, and the complete sets of fresh eggs 

 indicate this, while they also prove that 

 the eggs of the clutch are laid closely to- 

 gether. If these inferences are correct, 

 then we must fall back on the stoi y - of 

 the pilfering of the eggs by the birds. 

 If any one can add to our information 

 on this subject, I know that the natur- 

 alists would like to learn the facts. 



The young when first emerged are 

 disgusting looking, red, naked, skinny 

 things; in fact at no time during its ex- 

 istence can we allude to the Brown Pel- 

 ican as handsome in any degree. When 

 the birds are nearly a week old they 

 are covered with down, and at this 

 time they present a ludicrous appear- 

 ance;, heightened by their attempts to 

 waddle out of the observer's way, or, 



