MANGROVE SWAMPS 85 



which the island was formerly covered. The island 

 was cleared for the cultivation of sugar cane, but 

 this industry being at a very low ebb the greater 

 part is now uncultivated, and is becoming covered 

 with a thick growth of acacia trees. At one 

 place we landed at a wharf which formerly belonged 

 to a large sugar factory, which was still standing 

 with the machinery for crushing the cane, although 

 it had been abandoned for several years. 



The shore on the leeward side is bordered with 

 mangrove swamps, which are covered by the sea 

 at high tide. The mud in these swamps makes a 

 fine feeding ground for wading birds. The most 

 remarkable of these was the crab -plover,* a bird 

 which much resembles an avocet in size and 

 coloration. Its bill, however, is short and stout, 

 and very different from the avocet' s slender 

 upturned bill. These crab -plovers were feeding 

 in considerable numbers on the shore in company 

 with curlews and whimbrels, and other well-known 

 British wading birds, such as the common sand- 

 piperf and greenshank.J 



Among the mangrove trees were numbers of 

 little kingfishers, somewhat smaller than the 

 common kingfisher and with a remarkable mop-like 

 crest, composed of long soft feathers which hang 

 down over the eyes and back of the head. 



The country close to the town is cultivated, 



* Dromas ardeola. f Totanus hypoleucus. 



% Totanus canescens. Corythomis cristata. 



H 



