PERU'S WEALTH-PRODUCT XC TURDS 



OQ.3 



A SMALL INDEPENDENT PELICAN ROOKERY ON ONE OF THE LOBOS DE AFUERA ISLANDS 

 The food of the pelican consists almost entirely of fish. 



mosphere was actually cloudy with many 

 thousands of fowls that were raining in- 

 cessantly into the water ; the whole sur- 

 face of the sea was broken and spattering 

 from the fall of animate drops and 

 speckled with the glossy white of the 

 reappearing birds, while the air was filled 

 with the whirling of wings and the sounds 

 of hundreds of splashes at every instant. 

 One of the accompanying illustrations 

 (see page 546) shows a high cliff, at the 

 Chincha Islands, dotted with nests. Al- 

 most universally the nests were found 

 either upon cliffs or upon very steep and 

 rugged slopes high above the water, 

 where approach could be made only with 

 considerable difficulty. Every day in the 

 year one may find eggs and all stages of 

 young at the nesting places, for the 

 piquero has no favored season of breed- 

 ing. 



The naturalist and traveler, von Tschudi, 

 who supposed this species to be the bird 

 of chief importance, found that a single 

 specimen would produce 3^ to 5 ounces 

 of guano per day. Assuming that one 

 ounce of this was deposited at the island 

 each day (a low estimate), it is evident 

 that a million piqueros would produce 



356,000,000 ounces per year, or 11,400 

 tons — guano to the actual value of a half 

 million dollars. Beyond question, the 

 gannets of the Peruvian coast would far 

 exceed a million in number, but in the 

 present condition the product is practi- 

 cally all wasted. 



THE HOMES OE THE PERUVIAN PELICANS 

 HAVE BEEN DEVASTATED 



Most conspicuous of all the birds of 

 the Peruvian islands is the large pelican, 

 or "alcatraz," which is seen along the 

 entire coast. It was observed to be much 

 more abundant in the north, but this 

 probably was due not so much to climatic 

 conditions as to the fact that the larger 

 islands of the north afforded more con- 

 genial environment for nesting. 



Residents of Pisco, and others whose 

 connection with the guano industry has 

 taken them into that region during past 

 years, tell of the former great abundance 

 of pelicans in the southern region, from 

 the Chincha Islands to the Santa Rosa, 

 in the Bay of Independencia. If such 

 had been the condition, and many evi- 

 dences supported the personal statements, 

 a great chansre had occurred. Only a 



