172 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



ment. The reaction of the germ-plasm to the changed environment will 

 have to wait for its interpretation until the next generation presents itself. 

 Looking over the entire plantings, I am inclined to believe that, with the 

 exception of the Tea Table and Indian Keys, the colonies are doing as well 

 as might be expected. It is also quite possible that when the young in the 

 various colonies attain a larger size a good many more will be found in the 

 various places — in fact, a good many may be present in places where we 

 did not discover them at all, for the nepionic shells are quite small and 

 hard to find. 



Birds observed on the Florida Keys on April 25 to May 9, 1913, 

 by Paul Bartsch. 



While visiting the cerion plantations this spring on the Florida Keys I 

 had occasion to note the birds seen on and about the various islands between 

 Miami and the Tortugas. I kept a list of these in my journal, believing 

 that some of the notes might be of interest to ornithologists, particularly 

 to the students of bird migration. I have made an extract of the bird notes 

 and offer them for whatever they may be worth. 



April 25. — Visited Sand Key and the Ragged Keys just north of this. 

 Saw brown pelicans, man-of-war birds, royal terns, least terns (3 specimens) , 

 Bahama red-winged blackbirds, Cape May warbler, ground dove, king- 

 bird,* Louisiana heron, and several cormorants. 



April 26. — Between Cape Florida and Indian Key we saw a good many 

 royal terns and a few brown pelicans and man-of-war birds. On Indian Key 

 we found a colony of boat-tailed grackles breeding in the trees about the 

 ruins of the old house; a red-bellied woodpecker was noted among the 

 coconut trees. 



April 27. — On Tea Table Key red-bellied woodpeckers were seen about 

 the coconut trees and a kingbird among the agaves. A snowy heron and 

 several green herons and a spotted sandpiper were seen on shore; brown 

 pelicans and royal terns were also present. 



On Knight's Key brown pelicans, royal terns, and laughing gulls were 

 seen off shore, and about 25 least terns were flying about the sand-spit. An 

 egret was seen at the edge of the mangrove thicket, where it remained 

 the greater part of the afternoon and all through the night. On shore we 

 noted kingbirds and boat-tailed grackles. 



April 28. — Saw a colony of boat-tailed grackles breeding on the key east 

 of Bahia Honda. In the afternoon we visited New Found Harbor Key, 

 where we saw a large flock of bobolinks, all males. There was also a breed- 

 ing colony of boat-tailed grackles on this island, and the brown pelicans 

 and laughing gulls were fishing off shore. 



April 29.— On both Saddle Hill Key and Geiger's Key brown pehcans, 

 roval terns, male bobolinks, and Bahama red-winged blackbirds were seen. 



\A.pril SO.— Visited La Breeza and Martello Tower, Key AVest, where four 

 young men were engaged in trapping male bobolinks. They were using 

 an ordinary square box-trap made of sticks held in place by a bow over the 

 top and propped up with a stick, to which a long string was attached; under 

 the trap canary seed was placed. The bobolinks were then rounded up 

 by one of the young men, while the other guarded the distal end of the 



*I am strongly inclined to believe that this bird is the gray kingbird, but not having 

 a gun to enable me to collect specimens I was unable to decide this point positively. 

 However, judging from the note, I am inclined to believe that the kingbird of the 

 Florida Keys is the gray form. 



