FLORIDA: THE GULF COAST 173 



were eight nests within half a mile of the w^harf, 

 and two were close at hand. 



The beaches of these interior bays are pebbly 

 at points, sandy at others, and again muddy. Here 

 Wilson's plover, a resident bird, found congenial 

 feeding and nesting ground. This small plover 

 is somewhat larger than the ring-necked plover, 

 and of heavier and stouter build, with a longer 

 and stronger bill. The sexes are readily distin- 

 guished by the difference in color of the band 

 across the breast. The willet was also one of 

 the commonest of the shore-birds, and bred in 

 great quantities at points not far distant, notably 

 in Old Tampa Bay. In this vicinity I saw for the 

 first time the great salt-water rookeries of herons, 

 pelicans, and cormorants that once were common 

 along the entire Gulf Coast of Florida, but which 

 the persistent persecution of plume hunters and 

 so-called sportsmen has almost eliminated. Some 

 of these breeding places were of vast extent; 

 one at the mouth of Tampa Bay, known as the 

 " Maximo Rookery," occupied an island of over five 

 hundred acres. This island was thickly covered 

 by a growth of black mangrove trees which stood 

 so close that their outstretched limbs were in- 

 terwoven, and nearly every tree at certain seasons 

 of the year afforded a site for from five to a 

 dozen nests of herons. 



The birds that bred here were Ward's heron, 



