The White Pelican 



Taken on the Sallon Sea Photo by the Author 



THREE GRACES 



they had topped Mt. Lowe, 

 whose observatory they ex- 

 amined curiously; and then I 

 watched them, sharply pointed 

 dots of white against the chap- 

 arral green of the mountains, 

 until they had cleared Mt. Wil- 

 son and disappeared toward 

 Mohave. It was a "flying cir- 

 cus," in the days before human 

 imitations had made their ap- 

 pearance, at least in squadron 

 formation, and at that I think 

 the birds had the advantage. 



Speaking of aviators, I re- 

 call a fourth picture in which 

 these master craftsmen of the 

 air posed as inspectors of the 

 new aspirants. It was at a 

 famous meet of the early day, 

 April 19th, 1913, at Sacramento, 

 when Christofferson, Blakely, 

 Francis, and others were enter- 

 taining the crowd at the State 

 Fair grounds. There were two 

 machines in the air doing a sky- 

 climb, which was to conclude 

 the program, when a close- 

 ranked platoon of some thirty- 

 odd White Pelicans swept over 

 the exhibition grounds in silent 

 majesty. But in passing, their 

 attention was attracted by the 

 strange invaders of their ethereal 

 medium, and they broke file, 

 wavered, circled and towered 

 in curious confusion and appre- 

 hension, for the space of ten 

 minutes. Alas! not even the 

 sky is safe for these children 

 of the older day. 



1964 



