HABITAT BIRD GROUPS 61 



Pelican Island on the Indian River of Florida has been made a reser- 

 vation by the United States Government, and these grotesque 



~ birds may now breed there undisturbed. The view shows a 



can Group i 



section of the island at the height of the nesting season. 



Notwithstanding the hundreds of young birds that are clamoring for 



food, observation has shown that the parent bird can pick out its own 



offspring with unfailing accuracy. (Reproduced from studies at Pelican 



Island, Florida.) 



This beautiful bird has been brought to the verge of extinction in this 



country through the use of its " aigrette plumes " for millinery 



n( ^ y eron purposes, and is now confined to a few protected rookeries of 



Group tne South. The birds have these plumes only during the nest- 



ing season, at which time the death of the parent means the 



starvation of the young. (Reproduced from studies in a rookery of South 



Carolina.) 



The turkey vulture or buzzard is one of the best known birds of the 

 South where it performs a valuable service in acting as the 



. p scavenger of the streets. On this account it is protected 



by law and by public sentiment and has become both abun- 

 dant and tame. (Reproduced from studies at Plummer Island in the 



Potomac River, near ^Yashington. 



The California condor is the largest and one of the rarest of North 

 American birds. It is not so heavy as the condor of the Andes 

 but has a slightly greater spread of wing, eight and one-half 



GrouD ^° e ^ even ^ eet - ^ n the g rou P the visitor is supposed to be 



standing in the interior of the cave where the bird has its 



nest and is looking down on the river of the canon which is more than 



five thousand feet below. (Reproduced from studies in Piru Canon, 



California.) 



The foreground of the group shows a detail of the island that is 



painted in the background. The young birds are feeding and 



ran s -^ ^j ^ e not j cec j t ] iat one fledgeling is reaching well down the 



Cormorant . 



Q ro mother's throat after the predigested food. (Reproduced 



from studies at Monterey, California.) 



Formerly this area was an arid place with a characteristic desert bird 



fauna. Now the ranchmen have irrigated the land and 



v H p aquatic bird life abounds. This group is a good illustration 



of the influence of man on the bird life of a region. 



In the breeding season the flamingos congregate in great numbers in 



their rookeries. There were estimated to be two thousand nests in this 



colony. The flamingos construct their nests by scooping up mud with 



