EVERGLADE KITE 71 



there with little clumps of small trees or bushes, with an occasional 

 island of larger trees and bushes, amphibian willow, alligator ap- 

 ple, waxmyrtle, swamp bay, silver-leaved magnolia, and cocoa plum. 

 Toward the western border the grassy glades are dotted with very 

 small isolated cypresses, 8 to 10 feet high, so scattered that the 

 broad view is not obstructed. Farther west the cypress becomes 

 thicker and taller, often forming dense cypress clumps. During 

 wet seasons these glades are covered with clear, fresh water 1 or 2 

 feet deep; but since the drainage operations in dry seasons the 

 glades are mainly dry and the abundant bird life disappears. The 

 winter of 1929 and 1930 was unusually rainy, the glades were full 

 of water, and we were favored with many interesting views of water 

 birds. Little blue herons, in both blue and white plumages, were 

 the most abundant birds, feeding in the shallow water or flying 

 away in immense flocks to their evening roosts; with them were many 

 American and snowy egrets and Louisiana herons; and frequently 

 a stately Ward's heron stood and calmly watched us as we drove 

 by. This was the former home of the everglade kite, and here it was 

 that we saw a lone individual in March 1930. After many days 

 of careful scrutiny of every hawk, crow, or other suspicious bird, 

 we finally discovered one sitting on a tiny cypress in the western 

 part of the glades. Its slaty-gray appearance attracted our atten- 

 tion, but when it spread its broad wings and circled over the marsh, 

 showing the white base of its tail, both above and below, and we 

 caught a glimpse of its reddish legs as it wheeled, all doubt was dis- 

 pelled. Twice we saw it dart down into the grassy marsh, pick up 

 something, and alight on a small cypress to eat it. This was prob- 

 ably a snail and we thought we could see it extract the meat with 

 its long, hooked beak. 



When I first visited southern Florida, in 1904, everglade kites 

 were breeding commonly all through the southern Everglades, west 

 of Palm Beach and back of Miami and Homestead; there was even 

 said to be a breeding colony of them near Paradise Key, now Koyal 

 Palm State Park, But the draining of the Everglades has changed 

 all this; most of their former haunts are so dry, except during 

 especially w^et seasons, that the great marsh snails {Am.'pullaria 

 dej)ressa), their principal food, have died and their pearl-like egg 

 clusters are no longer seen on the marsh vegetation; during tempo- 

 rary wet spells the snails do not become established again and the 

 kites must look elsewhere for their food supply. What few ever- 

 glade kites still remain to breed in Florida may be found only 

 where there are permanently wet marshes and where the snails still 

 survive, such as still exist in some portions of the upper St. Johns 

 River region. Further drainage operations may dry up these 



