Show PELICAN A NAUGHTY BIRD trout hog Is charge made against him by professor of university of illinois excitement Is rife in the wili wild animal community of uie the yellowstone national park since tile scandal about mr ir pelican received public attention the ducks are quacking about it tile the squirrels are chattering it and the bob cats are scattering it broadcast in their shrift voices throughout an all the whispers and nudges of neighbors as lie passes sir air pelican maintains tits his stately mien alien seemingly unconscious of tile the jibes of the multitude his actions would indicate he still holds tits his valued place in the community ills trouble started with the charge by prof harry B ward head of the department of zoology ol of the university ot of illinois that he Is a trout hog and violator of all the tenets of good sportsmanship proof of these charges probably will mean that mr pelican will become an outcast with door closed to him and hand against him professor ward Is conducting an exhaustive investigation tor for the federal bureau of fisheries at lake yellowstone yellow low stone in yellowstone national park as to the relationship between the pelican and the trout supply ills his investigation which has been progressing gres ging several weeks will continue through the present season the hock floel of pelicans that live and breed on lake yellowstone numbers about they summer aristocratically at the lake feasting on the best the land affords from spring until september then go to their winter resorts along the gulf of mexico exico Al the bird diets almost exclusively on fish and so far as the yellowstone and other rocky mountain lakes and streams tire are concerned this means exclusively clu on trout he estimates that the pelicans consume more trout than are taken during an entire season by sportsmen the pelican Is no respecter of size limits or open seasons professor ward charges ile he declared he had bad seen a platoon of 36 pelicans ranged across a stream in regular formation preying on the trout as thley they swam up to spawn hitherto the stream had yielded trout eggs by the millions but hatchery hatchery men this year could gather only a fraction of the normal amount the fact Is granted that mr bir pelicans home life Is above reproach ile he I 1 Is a good provider a good husband and father and Is strictly monogamous for the birds in the lake flock there are just 0 00 nests one for each couple and one mate for each bird there are no triangles in the yellowstone if further investigations justify it professor ward wilk wil ask the federal goberni government nent to bar the pelican its as summer visitors from the park |