NORTH AMERICAN MARSH BIRDS 135 



The largest rookery of American egrets that I have ever seeu is 

 now safely guarded in a United States bird reservation, locally known 

 as Bird Key, in Boca Coiga Bay, Pinellas County, Florida. It is well 

 named, for it is a bird paradise, densely populated dming the breed- 

 ing season with many thousands of water birds, Florida cormorants, 

 brown pelicans, white ibises, American and snowy egrets, Ward, 

 Lousiana, and yellow-crowned night herons. I made a number of 

 visits to this most interesting rookery during the spring of 1925, and 

 became quite familiar with its varied bird population. At the time 

 of my first visit, on March 11, the American egrets were already well 

 along with their nesting and apparently all had eggs. They were 

 grouped in a densely populated, but quite extensive area in the most 

 heavily wooded portion of the island, where the trees were tallest and 

 thickest, red and black mangroves, buttonwoods, bays and willows. 

 They were intimately associated with Ward herons and Florida cor- 

 morants and apparently on good terms with them. The Ward herons 

 had young in their nests, at that time, in the tops of the tallest trees. 

 But the cormorants, the most numerous species on the island, were 

 then busy with their courtships and were building their nests in the 

 tops of all of the larger trees; these filthy, black creatures seemed 

 out of place among the beautiful white egrets. The egret's nests were 

 placed at various heights in the smaller and medium-sized trees, from 

 12 to 30 feet up; a few were in the larger trees, but usually not near 

 the tops. The nests were frail and poorly made, as is usually the 

 case with this species. The birds were very tame and it was an easy 

 matter to watch them, even without a blind, at short range; but the 

 foliage was so dense, with practically no open spaces, that it was 

 almost impossible to get clear views for photographs. It was inter- 

 esting though to watch the home life of these beautiful birds and see 

 them standing or sitting on their nests all around us. Even when 

 not alarmed they seemed none too anxiously to incubate, but spent 

 much time standing on or near their nests in various attitudes of 

 indolence or indifference; eventually they would settle down on their 

 nests. Occasionally we saw the ceremony of nest relief, a spectacular 

 performance ; with much loud croaking, to which his mate replies, 

 the male alights in the top of the nest-tree or one near it; with much 

 display of plumage, raised wings and elevated plumes, he walks 

 along or down the branches to the nest, where he greets and caresses 

 his mate ; she responds by lifting her head and raising the plumes 

 above her back; in graceful attitudes they admire each others charms, 

 a beautiful picture of conjugal happiness and a great display of pur- 

 est loveliness; aftcT a few moments she departs and he assumes charge 

 of the nest. Settling down to incubate is a deliberate process; after 

 standing over the eggs for awhile, the bird slowly crouches and finally 

 settles down with the back plumes elevated and spread; gradually 



