PELICAN ISLAND 208 
wings as they dashed the water over themselves 
could be heard at a great distance. The bath 
concluded, the birds gathered in rows on the sand 
bars jutting out from the island, to vigorously 
preen their feathers, and doze in the sun; and then, 
at irregular intervals, bird after bird, prompted ap- 
parently purely by a love of exercise, or tempted 
by a possible resulting exhilaration, mounted 
slowly into the air until they had attained a great 
height, when, spreading their wings, they sailed 
majestically about on, broad circles for hours at 
a time. I was at first inclined to connect this 
habit with the season of courtship, but observing 
several birds of the year, who had but recently 
learned to fly, join their elders, I came to the con- 
clusion that the habit had no sexual significance, 
and was indulged in solely because the birds en- 
joyed it. 
In the afternoon the fishing parties again started 
out, and after the resulting catch had been delivered 
to the clamoring young, the Pelican’s day’s work 
was concluded, and he betook himself to his favor- 
ite roost for the night. At dark a few Cormorants 
returned to the branches of a dead tree, a single 
Frigate, after carefully and repeatedly reconnoiter- 
ing the situation, decided to take lodgings on a 
neighboring stub, and a Pelican Island day was 
ended. 
Whether, as in the case of the Terns and Gannets 
previously mentioned, the Pelicans all return to 
their island on a certain day I can not say. Proba- 
bly, however, the short duration of their migratory 
journey, and the fact that they come from both the 
