Page:Bird-lore Vol 03.djvu/23

6 each pair of nests, we then have a total of 796 hirds which had left the 531 deserted nests. Add to this number the 148 youn.ii remaining in the nest and two adults for each of the 710 nests built during the 1900 nesting season, and we have as the population of Pelican Island for that year, 2,364, or a decrease of 372 birds since 1898, when it was estimated that there were 2,736 birds on the island. Pelican Island contains about four acres of ground, of which less than

BROWN PELICAN AND NEST IN YOUNG CABBAGE PALMETTO The same nest, with a bird seated on it, is shown in the picture on the opposite page. Note.— The head of this bird, from the eye upward, projected beyond the edge of the plate and was not. therefore, photographed. It has here been supplied by Chas. R. Knight, from sketches from life. one-quarter is occupied by the birds, most of the nests being grouped in one thickly populated area, which, it was interesting to observe, was without a single nest in 1898. No change in the surrounding conditions was observed, and the reason for this desertion of one part of the island for another was not evident. There was, too, a marked variation in regard to the character of the nests built on the ground as compared with those on the island in 1898,

few das. The loss would be irreparable, and, it is to be especially noted, would not be confined to tbe vicinity, but would affect the whole east coast of Florida, there being, so far as is known, no other breeding colony of Pelicans on the Atlantic coast of the peninsula. There is doubtless no area of similar extent in the world so well adapted to the wants of certain aquatic birds as Florida; and if today it were inhabited by even one -tenth of the myriads of Herons, Egrets, Spoon- bills and other large and conspicuous ' birds w^hich animated its lakes and marshes thirty years ago, the marvel of its wild life would be known the world around and prove of greater interest to tourists than any existing attraction in the state. If Floridians doubt this valuation of birds which they have been accustomed to regard as worthless, or at so much per plume, let them observe the excitement oc- casioned among the tourists on a St. John's or Ocklawaha steamer by the now rare appearance of White Herons within a short distance of the boat. The birds have gone, and what has the state received ? Proportion- ately nothing. Here and there a poor hunter, or a curio dealer, has made a few dollars, but most of the killing has been done by, or under tlie immediate inspiration of, northern dealers, and Florida's loss has been their gain. There are still scattered colonies of these birds in the less accessible parts of Florida, and if the natives of the state ever open their eyes to the indisputable fact that a living bird is of incalculably greater value to them than a dead one, they may perhaps take some steps to defend their rights, and by passing and enforcing proper laws, put an end to the dev- astations of the northern plume agents, who have robbed their state of one of its greatest charms. YOUNG BROWN PELICAN IN GROUND NEST BUILT OF STICKS