106 



THE OOLOGIST. 



Nesting Habits of the Brown Pelican. 



Common among the water birds of South 

 Western Florida, is the Brcrwn Pelican; at 

 all seasons of the year he may be seen fly- 

 ing over the water of the bay or gulf in 

 search of food . He or she is sometimes 

 alone or in company with others, (generally 

 5 or 6) flying along at an altitude of 40 ft. 

 perhaps ; he suddenly turns his rear end 

 up and his head down and into the water 

 he goes "ker-souse"; in a minute he flaps 

 his wings and flies away in search of more 

 prey. A skilled lot of fishers are the peli- 

 cans and many are the fish consumed by a 

 single pelican in a year. The only ailment 

 known to me that troubles the pelican is 

 "consumption" (offish and not dangerous) 

 therefore rather late in the spring the pel- 

 icans hold a "caucus" and pick out a local- 

 ity suitable for nesting. They generally 

 nest in the same place every year but not 

 always. The first day each female selects a 

 suitable place for building her nest and then 

 (judging by a meeting I once saw) ' 'promptly 

 at twelve" they fly away to "hash". The 

 ones I saw went nearly twenty miles before 

 settling down to business. During the next 

 few days they are kept quite busy making 

 their "Home sweet home". 



As may be imagined, the sight of a pel- 

 ican flyiug in the air with a branch in his huge 

 beak, is extremely ludicrous. Diligently 

 do they work and the nest is soon finished ; 

 and then to the pelican, "tkeir's no place 

 like home" for three months. The nest is 

 rather a large structure, but not out of pro- 

 portion and is composed of mangrove 

 limbs or twigs and lined with coarse grass 

 and green leaves. It is generally not 

 very daep, but sufficiently so to be perfect- 

 ly safe for the eggs. The Pelicans always 

 build in a mangrove tree on a small key, on 

 this coast. The nests are generally 12 ft. 

 from the ground, but vary from 8 to 16. 

 On the completion of the new nest, the 

 female takes possession of her new home 

 and sets quietly, and in a week or ten days 

 the set is complete. 



The eggs usually number 3, but I have 



taken sets of 4, and once took one of 5. 

 Their color is chalky white and the shell is 

 generally rough and almost always covered 

 with dung stains. The shell is quite thick 

 and tough, and very hard to drill. The 

 eggs have been eaten by some of the coast 

 people, but they pronounced them "rather 

 strong." Hundreds of Fish-crows, however, 

 think them very good and improve every 

 opportunity to steal them. In three or 

 four weeks the young birds are out and of 

 ail the ugly things, they "take the cake." 

 Perfectly destitute of clothing and lying; 

 on their side in the nest, they are, in deed, 

 "queer chickens." Plenty of fish are sup- 

 plied by the fond parents, and they are 

 constantly picking away at them with their 

 queer beaks. By the time two months 

 have passed they have transformed 

 into a large bird, and would bear 

 comparison with a turkey. They are now 

 really handsome, for they are covered with 

 pure white down, and very neat looking' 

 they are indeed. 



But woe unto the rash fellow who stands 

 under their home, for no matter how skep- 

 tical he may be in regard to its raining 

 fish, he will soon be convinced of the truth 

 of the statement, for unawares he will find 

 himself covered with half digested fish. 

 His pockets full, his hat brim full, and the 

 scent, oh my ' far worse than that of a cer- 

 tain chicken thief. That person is certain 

 to give Pelican rookeries a wide berth in 

 the future, or at least to "stand from 

 under." 



As time goes by the true feathers come, 

 and the Pelican takes on a snit of gray, and 

 by Autumn is ready to fly. At the end of 

 two or three years his head becomes pure 

 white, and a portion of his neck yellow and 

 brown, he is now truly a handsome bird, 

 and unless shot, lives a long and happy 

 life. Harmless, peaceable, and self-support- 

 ing, the Pelican is truly a very interesting 

 bird. Long live the Pelican. 



C, S. M., Bonifacio, Fla. 



