94 BULLETIN 135, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



These mangrove keys or islands, particularly the larger ones, are 

 favorite resorts of the great white heron, and here we found them in 

 abundance. The broad mud flats covered with shallow water form 

 their feeding grounds. As we cruised along the main channels we 

 could see the great white birds standing in the water several miles 

 away, often at a long distance from any land, dignified and motion- 

 less, until induced to move by the rise and fall of the tide or by our 

 approach when they would leisurely depart for some more distant 

 shoal. In such situations a near approach was impossible; 200 or 300 

 yards was about as near as we could come. Sometimes as many as a 

 dozen or 15 birds were in sight at one time, generally scattered about, 

 singly or in small groups, and often in company with brown pelicans, 

 with which they seem to be on good terms. 



Fish of various kinds are sufficiently plentiful in these shallow 

 waters to support, in addition to the herons, large numbers of brown 

 peUcans, Florida cormorants, man-o-war birds and royal terns, some 

 of which were almost constantly in sight. When not fishing, the 

 great white herons could be seen perched in small groups on the red 

 mangroves which form the outer boundaries of nearly all the keys, 

 their pure white plumage standing out in marked contrast against 

 the dark green foliage, making them clearly visible at a distance of 

 several miles, one of the most striking features of this mangrove 

 archipelago. But the keenness of their vision and their extreme 

 shyness afforded them all the protection necessary, for every attempt 

 to sail up to them proved a failure; a fleeting picture of great white 

 birds was all we ever saw, as, with slowly measured wing strokes, with 

 heads drawn over their shoulders and long legs stretched out straight 

 behind, they flew away to some far distant key. 



Our chances of securing any seemed hopeless until we discovered 

 their roosting place on one of the larger keys, to which we had traced 

 their line of flight. I had been wading along through the outer 

 strip of red mangroves in which I had seen them perched and had 

 tramped through the black mangrove forest back of them where the 

 crackling of sticks, as I picked my way through the tangled roots, 

 had alarmed them, but not a bird had I seen through the dense fol- 

 iage; the swish of their wings and their hoarse croaks of alarm were 

 all that told me they had gone. That effort proving fruitless, I strug- 

 gled through the tangled thickets toward the center of the island 

 and came unexpectedly upon an open grassy plain surrounded by 

 small trees and clumps of bushes. It was a beautiful sight that re- 

 warded my efforts, for there were a dozen or more of the great white 

 herons and a few Ward herons perched on the tops of the trees and 

 larger bushes. They were on the alert and all took wing instantly, 

 but I concealed myself and awaited their return. I had not long to 

 wait before they began to circle back over me; two of them came 



