LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 305 



reaching the head of the bay, ten miles from the feeding grounds, they turned 

 through a pass between the hills, and after flying five miles over land, reached 

 the ocean at a point opposite the island, having flown eighteen or twenty miles 

 to reach a point ten miles distant, rather than fly two miles over a range of 

 hills one hundred feet high. Above ten per cent of the birds, however, were 

 wise enough to take the shorter route. 



Mr. A. B. Howell (1912) noted a very interesting flight perform- 

 ance of the California brown pelican, which he describes as follows: 



At 4 o'clock I noted a very large flock of pelicans feeding, and shortly after- 

 wards the school of fish which they were pursuing left. Some of the birds 

 settled down upon the water while others began circling in the air on motion- 

 less wings. A moderate breeze was blowing. Singly the ones in the water took 

 wing and joined the circling throng until there must have been a hundred and 

 fifty birds in the air, forming an irregular but clearly defined column or rather 

 cylinder, some hundred yards in diameter. Gradually some birds mounted 

 higher until they were specks in the sky, while others were but fifty yards 

 above the water. More than an hour elapsed between the start and finish of 

 this flight. The flock remained over almost the same spot, and at no time 

 did a bird show indications of diving or looking for fish. Their soaring was 

 very even, and I noticed no flapping at all after a bird was fairly launched. 

 Slowly, as darkness approached, the pelicans left toward the north, singly or 

 in twos and threes. 



Pelicans are not always allowed to fish for themselves in peace, 

 as several observers have noted. Mr. William L. Finley (1907) 

 says: 



One day while standing on the wharf at Santa Monica I saw a brown peli- 

 can flapping along with a pair of gulls a few feet behind. A moment later 

 the big bird spied a fish, for with a back stroke of his wing he turned to dive. 

 He gathered speed as he went and with wings partly closed and rigid, he hit 

 the water with a resounding splash. The lower mandible of his bill contracted 

 and opened his pouch that held about as much water as the weight of his body. 

 He came to the surface and was in a helpless condition till the water ran out, 

 and at this moment he was pounced upon by the swift-moving gulls, who 

 snatched the fish and were away before the slow pelican could retaliate. 



At another time I saw a band of a dozen pelicans hovering over a school 

 of fish. The birds rose from the surface, swung around till about twenty feet 

 above, and two or three of them dropped into the water at a time. A bevy of 

 twenty gulls were fluttering around to pounce on every pelican that dove. 

 The instant one dropped and came up with fish he was surrounded by a bunch 

 of gulls, each scrambling to get a nose in the pelican's big fish bag. 



Mr. Gifford (1913) writes: 



Brown pelicans bathe after the manner of most water birds, by beating the 

 water with their wings. They were occasionally " decoyed " to wounded birds. 

 One day two or three of this species and several man-o'-war birds fiocked 

 about when a blue-footed booby was shot. As a rule the pelicans did not 

 associate with other species. Once or twice, however, they were observed 

 fishing along with blue-footed boobies, and at times roosting with them. 



It was not unusual to see several noddies fluttering excitedly about a pelican 

 when it was fishing, and often sitting on its head while it swallowed the fish. 

 Once I saw two on a pelican's head at one time. The pelicans never seemed 



