PELICAN ISLAND 



101 



The young evidently distinguish between a bird which 

 has food and one that has not, though, so deeply are the fish 

 swallowed, that no difference was discernible to my eyes; 

 but beyond this they suppress any discrimination they may 

 possess. Their motto is clearly "any old bird" provided it 



" Mobbed by all the nest graduates in the vicinity ' 



has something in its pocket, so to speak, and on the arrival 

 of such a bird from the fishing grounds it is mobbed by all 

 the nest graduates in the vicinity who with a riotous shout- 

 ing and clashing of wings attempt to "hold it up." Often 

 the adult is forced to seek refuge in a short flight and make 

 a further attempt to reach her young. Again in the strug- 

 gle the load of fish may be dropped when there is a wild 

 scramble to pick it up, a manner of feeding at which the 

 young seem adepts, and again, if the attacking party be not 

 too large, the parent succeeds in driving away all but her 



