102 AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN.
on the same plan as that of the Gannets, although in the latter Its
body is more elongated.
B • ,.9
J.O N(i-T A i lil'.I) DOCK.
FI:I.H:TH.A C1.ACI.11,is, 1!onaj'.
PLATE CCOXII. M+iS Jim FEMALE IS SWMMEB, MALE nf WINTER,
->-.^AXI> iriiFJ.EniiKu YOUNG.
t j l s the course of one of my rambles along the borders of a large
ftesb-Water lako^iiciir Bras-d'or in .Labrador, on the 28th of July 1833,
I was delighted by the,right ¡¿'«veral broods of this species of
Duet., all carefully attended to by their anxious and watchful mothers.
Not a mule bird was on the lake, which was fully two miles distant from
the sea, and I concluded that in tfip.speciesjsjas in many others, the
males abandon the fem;de.SKil'l.cr incubation lias commenced. I watched
their motions a good while, seajching at the same time for the nests,
<m,. of which I was not long in discovering. Although it was quite desfinite
of anything bearing-the appearance of life, ft still contained the
down which the mother had plucked from herself lor tlic purpose of
keeping her ftg'irs narm.i.uJt was placed under an 'alder bush, among
rank jfcc:eds,. irot. more than eight or n|»e; feet from the edge of the
water, and was formed of rather coarse grass, with*an- upper layer of
finer weeds, which were neatly arranged, while the, down filled the
bottom of tlit; cavity,. now apparently flattened by 'the long sitting of
the; bird. The number of young broods in sight induced me to search
for more nests, and in about an hour I discovered sis more, in on? of
whitfh I was delighted to find two rotten eggs, They measured 2 inches
and £ long, by 1*J broad,: were of a uniform pale yellowish-green, and
quite smooth. ,„,
My young companions had, unfortunately for m.e, walked; tha-t
morning to Blane Sablon, about thirty miles distant,, down the Strait?
of Belle Isle ; and haying no dog to assist me in procuring some of the
young ducks, 1 was oblige! to; enact the part of one myself, although
the thermometer that day was 4[5° 5(1", and the atmosphere felt chilly.
I gave chase to, the younglings;, which made for different parts of the
shore, as 1 followed them up to my middle in the water, while they
dived before me like so many Water-witches, the mothers keeping
9|oof, and sounding their notes of alarm and admonition. I was fortu