172 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Feb. 4, 1911. 
in the great slaughtering matches on the plains 
of the West. 
In 1894 one egg collector a’one carried off 125 
sets of pelican eggs. With sucn persecution it 
is a wonder that the birds did not abandon the 
island altogether. 
In 1901 the State passed a law protecting non¬ 
game birds, their nests and eggs, and the Audu¬ 
bon Societies placed a resident warden in charge. 
In 1903 the United States Government made the 
island a Federal reservation and placed it under 
the jurisdiction of the Department of Agricul¬ 
ture, since which time the birds have not been 
molested. 
The warden in charge is Paul Kroegal, of 
Sebastian, whose work as protector of these 
interesting birds cannot be too highly com¬ 
mended. 
Much harm was formerly done unintentionally 
by well meaning tourists who only came to see, 
but who chased the birds from their nests and 
exposed the fledglings to the hot rays of the 
sun. In this way many young birds were killed 
by the heat, and many unhatched eggs were 
spoiled. It is said that at a certain period of 
incubation, ten minutes’ absence from the nest 
on the part of the old bird will ruin the eggs. 
On approaching the island, the first intimation 
one has of its presence is the smell, which is 
very decided and not exceptionally pleasant. 
The next intimation is the shrill cry of the 
young which is kept up intermittently day and 
night. Their cry is a shrill sort of scream, and 
at a distance reminds one of a number of school 
children at play. The adult bird, unlike the 
young, is neither noisy or pugnacious. 
In the morning it is a pleasant sight to watch 
the pelicans depart for their fishing grounds at 
the ocean beach or along the big shallow river. 
They travel in groups of from two to fifteen, 
flying in a slanting line, flapping their wings in 
perfect unison for a while, and then spreading 
their wings sail along majestically for a few 
seconds, when the operation is repeated. Their 
mode of fishing is to fly slowly about until a 
fish is spied, when they dart down, hitting the 
water with a terrific splash, seize their prey, and 
righting themselves float lightly on the water 
for a few seconds before swallowing the meal, 
which is accomplished by throwing back the 
head, expanding the neck and giving the head 
a shake or two. 
The young pelican must learn to fly and his 
efforts to do so are often ludicrous. The young 
bird appears to be very proud of his wings and 
when the plumes are growing will often sit for 
hours waving his wings in the air. When hun¬ 
dreds of them are thus engaged and the air over¬ 
head is full of circling adults, the island and 
everything about it appears to be a mass of 
wings and forms a picture long to be remem¬ 
bered. 
On one occasion while a crowd of us in a 
motor boat on the river passed near the island, 
a young bird that had just mastered the art of 
flying came out to us and tried to alight on the 
bow. It happened that a young lady was seated 
there who did not relish this friendliness, and 
who, at the pelican’s near approach, screamed 
strenuously, whereupon the pelican shied away, 
but continued circling about over her head for 
some time, wondering no doubt what sort of 
creature this was that could make noises so 
wonderfully like himself. C. A. V. 
Flamingo on Long Island. 
On the 21st of last November, C. W. Ogden, 
of New York City, and three other men, who 
were gunning on the bay side of the outer 
beach, opposite Center Moriches, Long Island, 
N. Y., saw flying toward them, two or three 
gun shots from the shore, an extraordinary 
bird. It was very large, with a long neck 
stretched out in front, and long legs behind, 
and when it came opposite them, they could 
see the thick crooked bill, the pinkish-white 
color and the dark wing tips which told them 
that it was a flamingo. 
It was quite clear that, seen in that place and 
at that time, a flamingo must certainly be an 
escaped bird. The only person known to have 
flamingoes in confinement anywhere in this 
neighborhood is G. D. Tilley, of Darien, Conn., 
whose collection of captive birds is well known. 
Inquiry of Mr. Tilley reveals the fact that last 
autumn while receiving a number of flamingoes, 
one of them escaped and when last seen was 
flying south toward Long Island Sound from 
Darien. Later, Mr. Tilley received a news¬ 
paper clipping saying that someone had cap¬ 
tured the bird, but nothing further was ever 
heard of it. 
Have any of our readers any information 
as to the ultimate fate of this bird? 
Crows and Robins Lost in Fog. 
Waterltly, N. C., Jan. 28 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: About a month since we had a very 
heavy fog, so thick that several hunters had to 
stay out all night as they could not find their 
homes. The fog lasted twenty-four hours, and 
when it cleared there were hundreds of crows 
floating on the water. There were nearly one 
hundred in front of my house, and I saw them 
floating for several miles down the sound. They 
roost on the beach near old Currituck Inlet, but 
feed back on the farmlands. I suppose they 
got lost in trying to find their roost, and flew 
round and round, until, becoming exhausted, 
they dropped in the water and drowned. 
On the 19th and 20th it was very foggy 
again and on the 20th I saw the largest flight 
of robins .1 have ever seen at Currituck, coming 
apparently straight out of the ocean. It lasted 
for three hours and they came in countless 
thousands. I suppose they were migrating and 
wandered out to sea. I have no doubt many 
of them were drowned. More Anon. 
Dwarf Deer of Mexico. 
While hunting in Durango, Mexico, last spring 
I learned some facts as to the natural history 
of the whitetail deer of that region, which were 
so surprising to me that they appear to be worth 
noting in print. 
These deer are dwarfs, a full grown male 
weighing probably less than 100 pounds. In fact, 
when running at full tilt through the chaparral 
they very much resemble jack rabbits. They 
subsist entirely upon the leaves of the manzanita 
and the acorns of the live oak. The latter are 
swallowed whole, but my surmise is that they 
are thoroughly masticated upon regurgitation. 
What most surprised me was that their rutting 
season occurs in April, and at its close they shed 
their horns. There was no mistaking the fact 
of the rut. Autopsies performed on several fe¬ 
males established it beyond peradventure, and 
there was other evidence in plenty. 
Why these animals should be so diminutive in 
a land abounding in food and water, and why 
their habits should be so different from those 
of their Northern congeners, is surely a puzzle. 
W. B. S. 
[The deer of Southern Arizona and of Mexico 
are very small—fairly to be called dwarfs. Per¬ 
haps the species referred to is Cones’ deer, but 
that species is said to drop its young in July. It 
is thought Jo be the fact that the more southern 
the deer, the later the breeding season.— Editor.] 
Silver Gray Fox. 
Despite the fact that fox hunters in this 
section of the country repeatedly assert that 
their dogs have started and run a silver gray 
fox, many of the old citizens are in doubt re¬ 
garding the truth of the statement. The only 
genuine silver gray fox that has been shot in 
or about Monticello, N. Y., was killed by Dr. 
J. F. Curlette, of this village in 1892. The ani¬ 
mal was killed near Mountaindale, New York, 
a station on the O. & W. R. R., and was in¬ 
spected by a great number of people interested 
in these animals. Dr. Curlette presented the 
trophy to the Museum of Natural History, New 
York city, where it can be seen. Its appreci¬ 
ation was freely expressed by the New \ ork 
press of that date. M. T. D. 
[Just what is meant by silver gray fox we 
do not know. The term is often used of the 
common southern gray fox ( Urocyon ). but 
sometimes is used for the silver fox, which 
is believed to be a color phase of the red 
fox.— Editor.] 
Desert Plants about to Flower. 
At the New York Botanical Garden is part 
of the collection of desert plants in Conserva¬ 
tory Range No. 1, House No. 5. Among these 
are the aloes and related plants, mainly from 
southern Africa. Many of these are now com¬ 
ing into bloom, for it is summer in that land 
and they are following their native habit. 
Forms of aloes are represented by plants rang¬ 
ing from a few inches to several feet in height. 
The flowers are showy and are usually borne 
on long stalks in racemes or panicles. One of 
the most interesting is Aloe succotrina, from the 
island of Socotra. From the leaves of this and 
other species, the drug “bitter aloes” is derived. 
Florida Martins. 
Tarpon Springs, Fla., Jan. 2 6—Editor Forest 
and Stream: The martins came last year on the 
25th of January, but I have not seen them yet 
this season. They left their house on June 14, 
although they stayed around town and made an 
occasional visit to their old home until near 
the end of June, when they disappeared. 
The English sparrows made a very de¬ 
termined effort to occupy our martin box not 
long ago but I got out the hose and sprinkled 
them thoroughly, so that they left in disgust. 
I did the same thing last year, with the same 
result. Kelpie. 
