120 THE CONDOR VoL XVIII the possible explanation is that they were laid before the nest was built, or possibly while the eggs that had previously been deposited in the nest were being incubated. The eggs of the pelican are white and have a very rough texture. They differ from the eggs of the terns and gulls in being elliptical in shape. The nesting season of the pelican apparently extends over a ?eriod of five or six weeks at least. It probably begins some two weeks before those of the gulls and Caspian Terns. This was indicated by the presence of young pelicans some two weeks old, and eggs in all stages of incubation, as well as unfinished nest mounds. The feeding habits of the young pelicans was a matter of con- sidefable interest. It had always been the opinion of the writer that the young were fed from the pouch of the parent bird. However, upon observation, this was shown to be at variance from the facts. Tile parent bird opens its mouth and the young one thrusts its head down into the throat, whSle the old bird contorts itself, presumably in the efforts to aid in the regurgitation of the partly digested food. It is possible, however, that when the young become more mature and there is no longer a need for predigested food, they feed
rectly from the food carried in the pouch.
The young birds are;?hatched entirely naked, and it is only when they are a week or ?en days old that :khey acquire a scant covering of down. The gregarious hablts of the pelican are well demonstrated in the young as well as in the adults. As soon as the young are able to leave the nest and waddle about with the aid of their stubby wings, they gather in bands. Instances were noted where the young had evidently left their nests at too early a date, and, being unable to hold their own, had been trampled to death by their larger associates. We noted several examples of the nuptlal excrescence that forms on the upper mandible of the adults during the mating season. I have consulted much of the ?iterature on pelicans, but thus far have been unable to ascertain the function of this curious growth that is lost so soon after the breeding period. It probably bears some kln to the red comb and wattles of several of the gallinaceous birds that seem to function during the same period. GREA? BLUE HEr?)?.--It seems rather strange that a bird with the solitary habits of the Great Blue Heron should be gregarious while nesting. This can probably be explained by the added protection that numbers give. The nests of this bird were found on the east side of the island from some three rods from the water to the top of the crown of the I-Iat. They were all placed in the low scrubby bushes. Several were. usually found in any bush or clump that was occupied. In one case there were seven nests in one cluster. The nests are large masses of well woven twigs.. The construction of these nests must have entailed a large amount of labor, considering that they were about three and a half feet across and two feet deep, and twigs, like Winchester in thb poem, thirty nfiles away. The eggs were from two to six in number. They were greenish blue in color and, like the eggs of the pelican, were elliptical in shape, though with comparatively greater diameter. The herons apparently have the longest nesting period of all the birds living on Hat Island. There were eggs that showed no incubation, incomplete clutches, and young birds that were three-quarters grown, and all the inter- vening stages. The young showed no tendency towards sociability either towards each
