Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1899-10-19
WPalicanfOMn.o

names. Ioutn companion.
"Pelicantown.'
Frank NJ. Chapman tells the readers
of the st. Nicholas how and where the
pelicans of Florida build there nests
and breed.
Why is it, he asks, that all the
eave-swallows in a village place THEN
row of mud tenements under the roo!
of a certain barn? Every nook in
which nest could be built is occupied
by the clay apartments-not one is
''to Lett" still, none Of the birds seem
to think of building under the equally
favorable roof of the neighboring barn.
Their cousins, the bank-swallows, show
the same strong sociability, and from
miles around they gather to meet il
some particular sand.bank, the face o!
which will be thickly pitted with the
entrances to their burrows.
1t is not because the place chosen lie
the only one available that the birds
nest in hocks. There may be hun
dreds of barns and banks just as good
as the ones selected. 1t is not
question of food, for insects are abun'
dant everywhere, and these strong
flying birds can hunt them over miles
of country. 1t is not because they
find safety in numbers" rather dc
they make themselves conspicuous by
gathering in such large bodies. AS
rule, it is sociability desire foi
ompanionship-th offers the only
reasonable explanation for the great
colonies which may be observed at
nestingti
Certainly, no other theory will ex.
plain the origin OF Pelicantown. Its
site, like those often selected by human
colonists, seems poorly chosen; its
natural advantages are few; but so at
tached to their home are its inhabi'
tants that even the most cruel perso.
cution by their human foes has failed
to drive them from the land of their
ancestors.
But where is Pelicantown? Ir
spite of it's population of nearly three
thousand, few maps will show it.
Glance with me, therefore, at map
of Florida. Find the Indian river,
that long, narrow lagoon on its east
coast, divided from the sea by only
ribbon of land. Pelicantown is stu.
ated about midway between it's north.
ern and southern extremities, near
the eastern shore of bay which here
makes the river about three miles
wide. 1t is an island, triangular in
shape, containing about three acres OF
ground A few bushes and low palm
7
patches of tangled grass, but at least
one-fourth of its surface is bare sand.
During the nesting season this bar.
rem island is the home of probably all
the pelicans of Indian rive. Here
they come to build their nests, lay
their eggs, and rear their young, and
from January to May life in Pelican
town presents many novel scenes and
picturesque Incidents.
In March, 1898. I visited this city
of birds. AS my boat approached !
saw signs of life. Files of birds were
returning from fishing expeditions;
platoons were resting on the sandy
points; some we're in bathing, others
were sailing about in broad circles
high overhead; and soon one could
hear the sound of many voices-a
medley of strange cries in an un.
known tongue.
1t being quite impossible to count
the birds, determined to count their
nests, of which my census showed
there were no less than 845; but only
251 were occupied, though all had
been built that spring.
The death rate is high in Pelican
town. Doubtless many young birds
die through injuries received while
trying to escape from tourists who
visit the island and thoughtlessly
chase the young birds about. Eggs
and very young birds are destroyed in
hundreds by fish-crows, that daily
come over from the mainland on
marauding expeditions 1t is not
probable, therefore, that in many
families three young pelicans live to
leave the nest together; hence we may
reckon about one and half pelicans
! to each of the deserted nests. Add to
these two parent pelicans to each nest.
and we have 1851 birds on the wing or
on foot. But this number is to be in
creased by the 154 young that were
still in the nests, making the total
population of Pelicantown 2735.
This calculation, however, does not
take into account the eggs found, from
which almost hourly come new in
habitants of the island; and it is with
these eggs, or rather in what they
i were placed, that we may begin our
| study of pelican's life.