I04 The Ottawa Naturalist. [September 



some dark objects far ahead. Turning my g-lass on them I saw 

 that one was an Eagle, feeding- on what proved to be a stale fish, 

 while a Black Vulture patiently waited four or five feet away in 

 the hope that his superior would leave him some pickings. On 

 our approach, both flew, but the Vulture soon returned and 

 finished the feast when«we had passed by. Eagles were abundant 

 — to our eyes. Accustomed to consider the sight of an eagle as 

 a rarity it was a. new experience to be able to sit on the verandah 

 by the Atlantic coast and have an Eagle almost always in sight, 

 while sometimes two or three were visible at once. We were 

 favoured with one or two exhibitions of the celebrated contest 

 between the Eagle and the Osprey, for a fish just caught by the 

 latter, but the persecuted one escaped each time, somewhat to our 

 regret, though perhaps we should not have favoured the thief as 

 against the industrious Osprey. 



In addition to the large birds already mentioned, one can 

 often see from his doorway Herons, Loons, Marsh Hawks, Terns, 

 Gulls and Brown Pelicans. On Tampa Bay, which was reached on 

 the morning of February 26th, the last were in great abundance 

 and extremely entertaining. Our first glimpse of them was from 

 the train as we ran out nearly half a mile on a long dock to meet 

 the boat. Two Pelicans, utterly fearless, came up flying parallel 

 with the train, four or five feet above the water, and only twenty 

 yards away ; gradually passing our window one of them suddenly 

 sighted a fish, put his head down and tail up, and went in head 

 first. The fish was near the surface, however, so he sat up at 

 once and gulped it down in full view. This seemed to be their 

 regular method of fishing and from the deck of the steamer whence 

 one could scan the bay with a glass for miles, in every direction 

 Pelicans could be seen, some resting and some flying ; but it was 

 never needful to watch long before seeing one splash in, and then 

 sit on the water while he devoured his catch. As the train left 

 the boat at the other side of the bay, it ran parallel with a dis- 

 mantled dock, many of the posts of which still remained ; most of 

 these posts were crowned with a resting Pelican, and though only 

 twenty-five or thirty yards from the train, the birds paid no atten- 

 tion whatever to anything but the business in hand, which was — - 

 loafing. 



