Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1877-07-11
VOL. 5I--WH0LE NO. 2,52S.
FLoRIDA'S SNOWY PELIcANs.
GOOD WORDS FOR THEM WRITTEN BY AN
INvETERATE SPORTSMAN.

GOOD WORDS FOR THEM WRITTEN by AN
INvETERATE SPORTSMAN.
"Ziska," the sportsman, writes to the
New York Sun:
The shallowest bodies of salt wa.
ter along tho Atlantic coast of Flor
ida are Mosquito lagoon and Banana
river. They are parallel with the
ocean the lagoon north Of the river.
Both are within sound of the surf and
can bo seen from the lighthouse at
Cape Canavaral. They are between
five and six miles wide and from TWEEN.
ty-five to thirty long. The average
depth of water is less than two feet.
Sand bars and coral beds, acres in ex-
tent, appear above their surface, or are
barely covered, according to prevailing
winds. A traveller entering these wa
terry stretches in small 1at.bottomed
sailboat sees afar off white ridges
resembling banks Of snow. As he nears
these banks the water notches them
like the teeth Of saw, and they begin
TO look like rows of marble statues.
AT distance of 500 yards each statue
suddenly uniolds an enormous pair of
wings and scars into the heavens.
They are ermine pelicans, the largest
and heaviest birds in Florida. They
have been killed measuring nine feet
from tip to tip and weighing over for.
ty pounds. The plumage is snowy
white, the wings tipped with invisible
green. The broad breasts are covered
with down two inches thick, soft as
the soitest fnr. In Paris the skins have
been made into opera cloaksand sold
at fabulous prices. Mufls and boas
white as the driven snow are also made
Of the down, and arc said to be more
beautiful than ermine. TheHc lovely
birds have full, expressive eyes, en-
throncd above bills between two and
three feet long. The upper hooks
ever the point of the lower bill like the
beak of an eagle, and is ridged from
the nostrils half way down. Both arc
amber colored. The pouch is uncover.
ed, and resembles vulcanized rubber
1t will hold half a bushel of fish.
Banana river and Mosquito lagoon
are the only places on the ocean coast
of the peninsula frequented by ermine
pelican. The birds feed in the shallow
waters Of the submerged sand bars,
and roost on the dry bars in the mid.
die of the logoons at night. They are
extremely shy. There arc no covers
near their feeding grounds, and they |
cannot be frc.hunted, for they dash
into the darkness at the slightest |
alarm. During a five winters hunt ! |
have shot only one, and that with a
Remington rifle at six hundred yards.
Last winter DR.. Fox of New Smyrna
killed four, which were skinned and
mounted by Mr.. Byrant, son of late
eminent ornithologst of Massachusetts,
The doctor covered canoe with man.
grove bougbs, and showed it through
the shoal water until within gunshot.
The four fell at the first FIRE.
The grey or silver pelican fishes in
deep water, descending upon its prey
like fish hawk. The ermino bird, on
tho contrary, stays or the shoals, and
probably picks up its food. | have
never seen 1t plunge as its silvery sis
ter does. Diving in shoal water 1t
would break its neck. Tho two species
are dissimilar in character. The grey
bird is social and democratic; the err
mine reserved and sristocratic. The
latter seems endowed with the soul Of
a high caste Brahmin, scorning all
other associations and never afiiliating
with the grey. have seen both spe-
cies on a sand bar, but the ermine
birds invariably formed q group by
themselves, and stood like officers on a
quarter deck casting supercilious CLAN
ces at their neighbors. At such times
| have driven them of, and sunk otter
traps in the sand, fancying that might
catch them on their return, but all in
vain. Whether this was owing to bad
luck or the superior intelligence Of the
ermine bird, | know not The grey
was always tho one caught. The
flight of the ermine pelioans is different
from that of the grey. The latter fol.
low their leader in Indian file, soaring
when he scars and moving their wings
at his signal; the former generally lay
their course and move steadily ahead |
regardless of each others motions.
Natives tell me that the ermine pei.
icah never breed in Florida. They
are said to raise their young on the
border OF the Arctic ocean. An old
whaling captain AYERS that he has fire.
quently seen millions Of them nesting
at the mouth Of the Makensic river
and in Athabasca Lake. They Ger
tainly do not visit Florida to escape
the cold winters, for they are seen in
Mosquito lagoon and Banana river
during the entire summer.
With the gradual settlement OF the
eastern coast of Florida, all kinds of
water fowl decrease in number. This
is especially true of the grey or silver
pelican. Eight years ago there were
dozen colonies OF these birds between
the mouth of the st. Johns and Key
Biscayne. Last winter could find
only one-opposite the mouth Of the
ST. LUCE. Although democratic by
instinct, the silver pelican is the i'm
porsonation of dignity. II sits on the
water, head erect, its long bill on it's
breast, like grey.haired Judge on the
bench with hands clasped below his
breast. The bird moves through the
air like an exalted lubber, head drawn
in and neck thrown out in prow-shape,
its beak protruding like the spar OF
torpedo boat. Its pinions creak with
every motion. At regular intervals II
scars, as though fulfilling an important
religious duty. Long lines fly over
the beach, grave as patrols, all moving
their wings and soaring at given sig
nails. As they never make o graceful