Editorial 



125 



greater part of the 1,600 birds recorded 

 by Mr. Kroegel, after surviving the period 

 of early Pelican life had died at an age 

 when, with a week or so more of food and 

 growth, they too would have been able 

 to care for themselves. 



That starvation was the cause of death 

 was evinced by the emaciated condition 

 of all the bodies of the birds examined, 

 and even more convincingly and patheti- 

 cally by the actions of some of the sur- 

 viving young which were awaiting their 

 fate. With open bills they came directly 

 to us, touching our clothing and voicing 

 their wants eloquently, but in tones 

 which bore but faint resemblance to the 

 vigorous food-call of the hungry but well- 

 nourished young Pelican. 



These birds had obviously been deserted 

 by their parents, and it is not unreasonable 

 to suppose that the birds whose bodies 

 dotted the island thickly about us had 

 starved to death, because of similar 

 desertion. 



If this be true, one naturally seeks the 

 reason for this desertion. In February, 

 1908, on our last visit to Pelican Island, 

 large numbers of young were found that 

 had died during an exceptionally cold 

 spell, which had evidently prevented the 

 parents from fishing. These young, how- 

 ever, were all in the downy stage, and 

 hence we may believe were less hardy 

 than birds which had almost acquired 

 the power of flight. Furthermore, we 

 had been in eastern Florida the present 

 year since February 2, and can affirm 

 from personal experience that there had 

 been no storm or cold wave of sufficient 

 severity to prevent the parent birds from 

 fishing. Is it possible, then, that for a 

 period of several days the old birds had 

 had such poor fisherman's luck that they 

 could not find sufficient food for their 

 young? While this supposition might be 

 true of a few pairs of birds, in view of the 

 wide area of sea and river covered by 

 the parents of all the dead young it is 

 difiicult to believe that it could be true 

 of them all. 



Personally, therefore, we believe that 

 starvation followed desertion, and deser- 



tion \\ as due to a failure, or gi\ ing out, 

 of the feeding instinct, which had run its 

 course. Possibly the weather may to 

 some extent have induced the old birds to 

 abandon their young; but we are con- 

 vinced that, if exactly the same weather and 

 fishing conditions had prevailed earlier in 

 the season, the feeding instinct would have 

 then been sufficiently strong to have 

 induced the birds to overcome them and 

 to secure food enough to support their 

 families. 



Pelicans begin to gather on their chosen 

 island generally in November, and the 

 nesting season is well under way in Decem- 

 ber, but on the west coast of Florida, 

 Brown Pelicans do not begin to nest until 

 April. 



This past season (1913-14) the birds 

 returned to the island in October, the 

 earliest date. Warden Kroegel states, on 

 which he has recorded their arrival. The 

 nesting-season was correspondingly early, 

 and hence abnormal, a fact which should 

 be taken into account when one tries to 

 explain the failure of the parent birds 

 properly to care for their offspring. 



But, whatever conclusions we may 

 reach in regard to the factors which 

 brought disaster to the nesting-season of 

 1913-14, it is clear beyond dispute that, 

 under the circumstances now existing on 

 Pelican Island, the Pelicans are more in 

 need of protection than at any previous 

 time in their history. It is not the plume- 

 hunter who is so much now to be feared 

 as the thoughtless tourist whose landing 

 drives young from their ground-nests and 

 creates a confusion which may result in 

 many deaths. Fortunately, Warden 

 Kroegel's watchfulness prevents mishaps 

 of this kind. His guardianship of the 

 island is now so generally known that, 

 in most instances, application for a per- 

 mit to visit it under his guidance is made 

 in due form. But, if a strange boat is 

 detected in suspicious proximity to the 

 Pelicans' home, the National Associa- 

 tion's patrol boat 'Audubon' is soon under 

 way, and the trespassers are made aware 

 of the effectivenss of the warning notices 

 posted about the island. 



