556 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



paratively easy to rid 

 himself completely of 

 these pests by brush- 

 ing them off as they 

 passed the neck, for 

 they never delay their 

 steady march toward 

 the supposed position 

 of a bill. It is not 

 surprising that the 

 pelicans spend much 

 time bathing and 

 splashing in the water 

 in any quiet cove 

 along the shores of 

 their islands. 



THE STRANGE HABITS 



OF THE DIVING 



PETREE 



Turning from the 

 largest to the smallest 

 of Peruvian guano 

 birds, the little diving 

 petrel commands at- 

 tention. Though com- 

 paratively abundant, 

 it is rarely seen. 



No other marine 

 bird has developed so 

 effective a habit of 

 retirement. By day, 

 while one of the pair 

 is brooding on a sub- 

 terranean nest, the 

 other is usually far 

 out on the ocean, rest- 

 ing quietly or making 

 short dives for prey 

 beneath the surface. 



On sea or land, 



there is scarcely a 



movement to attract 



is fully capable of engulfing the long attention to the bird. With the fall of 



beak of the parent to receive the food darkness, all is different. From beneath 



A PERILOUS CLIMB TO REACH THE HOME OP A PATILLO, A 



SPECIES OF CORMORANT WHICH BUILDS ITS NEST 



ON PRECIPITOUS CLIFFS OR IN CAVERNS 



Unlike the white-breast cormorants, the patillos ("little ducks") 

 live in isolated pairs. The nests are strong and heavy, being con- 

 structed of seaweed, straw, and other accessible materials. 



which the latter disgorges into the infan- 

 tile interior, according to the well-known 

 practice of the pelican and its relatives. 



Both old and young are beset by para- 

 sites. The nesting grounds are made 

 rather disagreeable by the large number 

 of these that not only infest the birds, 

 but swarm upon the ground and extend 

 their explorations to the observer. 



These insects attach themselves by 

 scores within the pouches of the pelicans. 



the ground come the soft repeated calls, 

 bewildering to an observer who is unac- 

 quainted with the cause. The air be- 

 comes filled with the sound of quick 

 wings and gentle croaking voices, as little 

 dark objects flit batlike back and forth. 



THE PETREL RESEMBLES A FEATHERED 

 TERRAPIN 



A ball of feathers emerges from an 

 unnoticed opening in the ground, seems 



In fact, the writer found that it was com- to roll rapidly a short distance, and then 



