34 THE BOOK OF BIRDS 



"Our host accompanied us on our way through the 

 forest," he says, " in order to take us to two fishermen, to 

 whom he had sent word overnight ; ... it was through 

 them that we at last succeeded in finding the Pelicans' 

 nesting-place. Clad in loose brown garments, with keen, 

 wild faces and piercing eyes, these two fishermen resembled 

 birds of prey. They were very civil, and we started off 

 with them in two rude dug-out canoes. 



"The nests were at last made out to be on two low, 

 sandy islets, some miles from the shore. There was no 

 great difficulty in approaching the birds. Taking care to 

 move slowly and quietly, I found it possible ... to come 

 within twelve or thirteen yards. The nests (there proved 

 to be nearly 250 of them) were usually in groups of six 

 or eight together, some of them quite small and flat on 

 the ground^mere flat-trodden rings of sticks ; but in each 

 group there were usually one or two higher than the rest. 

 These were well and completely made of sticks and about 

 two feet high — very similar to a cormorant's nest, but 

 better made and with a deeper hollow. 



" The eggs were long and white and chalky. Two to 

 each nest seemed to be the rule. But at that season of 

 the year (early May) most of the young birds had been 

 hatched out, and quite a number of them were swimming 

 about in the waters of the lagoon. 



" The little downy nestlings were by no means pretty, 

 and they kept up a strange moaning cry not very unlike 

 the lowing of a cow. 



" The islets on which the nests lay were not stoiiy, but 

 made up entirely of shell-sand — broken-up cockle-shells, in 

 this case. Patches of samphire grew here and there, but 

 where the nurseries were it was noticed that everything 

 green had long ago been blighted and destroyed." 



