Sept., 1904 1 
THE CONDOR 
127 
On the way over pelicans singly, and in twos and threes, or in small squads 
passed us at a terrific rate of speed, those going toward the island flying close to 
the water with wing strokes that seemed fairly to devour space. These birds had 
been fishing in the tule-covered bottoms, east of the lake, where high water had 
carried multitudes of fish and, gradually subsiding, had left them stranded in the 
shallow's — a veritable paradise for pelicans and other fish-eating birds. 
As we drew near the island, the glass showed the side toward us to be liter- 
ally covered with these gigantic, snow-white creatures, and long lines of them, 
floating gracefully upon the unruffled surface of the water, were seen near the 
western shore of the lake. When we were about a half a mile distant hundreds of 
pelicans and a few gulls (^Lanis californicus) rose with a great rush of wings and 
much clamor, above which could be heard the sharp cries of a small flock of terns, 
{Sterna forsteri) which accompanied them. Soon after nearl)' all that remained 
YOUNG AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS 
took wing, and after circling about for a few moments, made off to the w'estward 
to join their companions. Not till our boat touched the eastern point of the 
island did the last of the pelicans leave. 
The first thing that forced itself upon our attention, even before we landed 
was the dreadful nauseating odor. With dead birds, old and young, by the scores 
.scattered over the island, and heaps of fish everywhere, just as they had been 
dumped out of the pouches of the old birds and in different stages of putrefaction, 
and with all the filth of a fully occupied roosting-ground — upon all of which beat 
the rays of a summer’s sun — the result was something to be remembered, but not 
to be desired. The three members of the party, whose desire for ornithological 
information is not among the principal traits of their character, and who preferred 
to take their first lessons in bird lore under less trying conditions, soon retreated 
to the boat. 
