Page:Condor11(3).djvu/25

May, 1909 ORNITHOLOGICAL TRIP TO LOS CORONADOS ISLANDS, MEXICO 99 could not positively identify them. There were none breeding on the islands at that time. Phalacro0rax auritus alb0dliatus. Fatallone Cormorant. Very abundant. on all three islands, tho breeding only on North and South Islands. The Farallone Cormorant colony on South Island was rather scattered in the pelican colony, and contained from fresh eggs to full grown young. They were very noisy, emitting a peculiar croak which sounded like the grunting of a pig. As they made this sound their cheeks swelled up very large, growing smaller as they prolonged the cry. The young were very much inclined to fight and we could not handle them without receiving on our hands scratches and bites. Phalacroc0rax penicillatus. Brandt Cormorant. Common on all three islands, tho the only colony we found was on the southwestern extremity of South Island, containing twenty-two nests, three of which contained eggs; the others contained very small young. The cor- morants were very tame and would not flush until we were right among them, but were rather shy about returning. Pelecanus californicus. Cali- fornia Brown Pelican. During our stay we called on what we had supposed, the first morning at South Island, to be a colony of pelicans; it , proved to be better than we expected, being a large colony of pelicans and cormorants combined. It was impossible to estimate the number of nests s,-,.. ? ' ? -? ? ' .. on the island, as they were very scattered and the island was steep and rugged. Sev- eral nests were found in which the eggs were so incubated that the young cried out from within their shells as they TYPICAL NEST AND YOUNG OF CALI?'ORNIA were handled, and a portion Bgow? PELICAN of the little bill protruded from the shell. The young are white when first hatcht, but change to grey as soon as their feathers grow. However, until nearly full grown, much of their nest down remains. We noted that their colors were somewhat nest stained. They were very noisy and attempted to bite us as we passed, shooting their long bills out at us in a very comical fashion, their bills clicking like castanets. After the young are about half grown they gather in flocks and keep close together, probably for protection from their enemies. A queer action was that whenever they were hungry or frightened they disgorged their latest meals, which the gulls were not slow in putting away. For this reason the odor of this colony was frightful. We found interesting novelties every minute. The most unusual was a young pelican whose wings were 1ockt behind its back so it could not possibly fly and had great difficulty in getting around at all. I undid the lock and was rewarded with a sharp blow from the bird's bill which it shot out very swiftly--almost sug-