THE BROWN PELICAN ON PELICAN ISLAND, FLORIDA 



BROWN Pelicans normally nest in bushes, and when the birds 

 first came to Pelican Island, Florida, the island was covered 

 with mangroves, in which the birds placed their nests. Severe 

 frosts and over-use by the Pelicans have killed all but a few trees. 

 When these are occupied by from two to five nests each, the remaining 

 birds build their nests on the ground, most of them resorting to a sand- 

 bar at the east end of the island, where they are as thickly grouped 

 as the painting indicates. 



The young Pelican (ground nest, front, left, in the group) is born 

 naked. When about ten days old a downy plumage begins to appear, 

 which soon changes the bird from black to snowy white (ground nests. 

 rear and front). The brown flight-plumage now begins to grow, showing- 

 first in the shoulders and humeri (ground nests, front, center and right), 

 and at the age of about two months this plumage is fully developd. 



The young are fed on predigested fish regurgitated by the old bird 

 into the tip of the pouch (ground nest, left, rear). Later the young 

 birds (sometimes all three at once) eagerly thrust their heads into the 

 parent's mouth and get their first fish from the base of its pouch. Possi- 

 bly in this habit may be found the origin of the myth in which the parent 

 Pelican opens her breast to supply nourishment for her offspring. When 

 the young Pelican secures fish longer than it can swallow, it sits with the 

 tail projecting from its mouth, patiently waiting for the head to digest 

 (ground nest, center, front). 



The inhabitants of Pelican Island have often been wantonly molested 

 by man, and at times the vandalism of tourists, who killed the birds and 

 robbed them of their eggs, has threatened the existence of this remarkable 

 colony. To prevent so unfortunate a catastrophe, President Roosevelt 

 set aside Pelican Island as a government reservation, and a warden is 

 employed to guard it during the nesting season. Only visitors who 

 have secured a permit from this warden are allowed to land on the 

 island. 



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