THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 



is preceded by singular antics of courtship— males and 

 females hop, skip and jump about, bowing low and leaping 

 high, all the time croaking and calling. 



Brown Pelican. The studies for this group were made 

 on Pelican Island in the Indian River of Florida. The birds 

 are shown in different stages of growth and in various 

 occupations. In the foreground may be seen several young 

 birds feeding on the predigested fish which has been re- 

 gurgitated by the parent bird. 



American Egret. Probably no species of bird has suf- 

 fered more from the depredation of the plume hunter than 

 the egrets. Now that adequate laws have been framed and 

 provisions made for their preservation, these birds may 

 again become as numerous as in former years. The 

 aigrettes are acquired by the birds prior to the nesting 

 season. As the season advances they become frayed and 

 dirty and are shed. The sketches for the background were 

 made from trees at an average height of forty-five feet. 

 The birds were studied and photographed from a moss- 

 draped blind attached to the limb of a tree in a rookery in 

 the swamps of North Carolina. 



Turkey Vulture or Turkey Buzzard. Once regarded as a 

 useful scavenger and protected by law, it is now regarded 

 with suspicion on account of its spreading hog cholera as 

 a result of feeding on carrion. The locality shown is Plum- 

 mer's Island, in the Potomac, just above Washington. 



Cactus Desert Bird Life. Mockingbirds and thrashers, 



78 



