130 
ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 7-No. 17 
the nests contained two eggs, the remain¬ 
der but a single one, the birds having evi- 
dentlj' just begun to lay. Almost all the 
grease wood bushes on the island con¬ 
tained a nest of the Great Blue Heron, 
but very few of these had commenced to 
lay yet. I was determined to pay these 
islands several visits in the near future, 
looking at them as perfect oological bonan¬ 
zas from a collector’s standpoint. I brought 
away but comparatively few eggs, but some 
of the members of the party having more 
faith in their gastronomic qualities than 
myself, loaded themselves down with as 
many as they could conveniently carry, 
hoping therel)y to add an extra course con¬ 
sisting of a fine “omelet an naturel” to 
our prospective supper of broiled Teal 
Duck and Swan chowder. The said ome¬ 
let was duly and artistically prepared, but. 
alas ! it was not a success. As I did not 
taste the dish I cannot describe its partic¬ 
ular fiavor, but I well remember the re¬ 
mark made to me by our chef de cuisine : 
“ Cajjtain, I don’t hanker after any more 
Pelican egg om’let ; you can take all the 
rest of the eggs, they taste too fishy ; if I 
have to eat fish I prefer to take them 
straight.” 
April 22d, I made another trij) to Mal¬ 
heur Lake, and remained there till the 
28th, exploring in the meantime all the 
islands and the southern shores of the lake 
thoroughly. On this and subsequent visits 
I could, with little trouble, have loaded a 
wagon with eggs, I found them so plenty, 
that literally every foot of ground down 
to the water’s edge was covere.l with nests. 
Each of these contained generally two 
eggs, although three and four to a nest were 
by no means rare, and occasionally I found 
as many as five, all evidently laid by 
the same bird. Two eggs seems to be the 
usual number laid, however. These are 
dull, chalky white in color, rough to the 
totich. caused by a calcareous deposit on 
them, aTxd always more or less blood 
stained. In some sjjecim^ns the white 
ground color was nearly hidden so they 
looked almost a chocolate brown. The 
shell of these eggs, thick as it is, and par¬ 
ticularly if the eggs have been washed, is 
very brittle, soft and easily broken. Their 
average size is about 3.4,5 X 2.30 in¬ 
ches. Measurements of a few selected 
specunens are as follows: 4.08 X 2.15, 
4.04x2.20, 4.01x2.19, 3.99x2.20, 3.72x 
2.40, 3.86x2.5.5, 3.87x2..32, ,3.62x2.40, 
3.60x2.40, 3..57X 2.3.5, 3.20x2.51, 3.17X 
2.23, 3.20x2.21; two runt eggs, 2.69X 
1.88 and 2.46 X 1.73 As will be seen there 
is considerable variation, but it must also 
be remembered that these eggs were selected 
out of several thousand. The various dis¬ 
crepancies in the plumage of these birds 
at different periods of the year is now well 
understood. On being disturbed at their 
bi-eeding places they would quietly fly out 
a short distance into the lake and remain 
there until the intruders had left or hidden 
themselves. A protracted stay on the 
islands was anything but jileasant, the 
whole place being alive with fleas, and the 
stench from decaying fish was almost un¬ 
bearable. The young, none of which 
seemed to be more than a week or so old, 
were perfectly naked, not a sign of a feather 
bein" visible, and thev certainlv could not 
be called attractive creatures. Eggs placed 
under a domestic hen hatched in twenty- 
nine days, and the injured and disgusted 
look of that poor bird at the result of her 
lengthy and protracted setting haunts me 
still. Although awkward on the land, these 
birds are by no means ungraceful on the 
water as well as on the wing, and they pre¬ 
sent a })retty sight coming and going in 
long single files from their breeding places. 
They are a sedate and silent bird, showing 
a great deal of tact and good sense com¬ 
bined with considerable activity on their 
fishing excursions. It has been my good 
fortune to observe tliem closely while so 
engaged. Some twelve miles to the south¬ 
west of the islands where they bn-ed is 
their princijiiil and favorite fishing ground. 
