in the Peninsula of Florida. 135 



the scrubby bushes, and succeed in killing two ; a third is ob- 

 tained by my companion. They appear to be much less restless 

 and noisy than the common Blue Jay. Shortly after I get home, 

 I find some of the children attempting to skin another, which 

 some one has shot and given to them. They willingly exchange 

 it with me for a Blue Jay, which answers their purpose as well, 

 so I feel that upon the whole my morning^s work has been 

 by no means unproductive. In the afternoon I go out with 

 Sheldon, who acts as pilot and harbour-master, to the Bar, at 

 the entrance of Mosquito Inlet. We see Cormorants, Pelicans, 

 and Ospreys in abundance. The latter have now got nests, and 

 are busy fishing. Each bird, after making its plunge, which is 

 rarely unsuccessful, flies off to the woods with its prey. I ob- 

 serve that they invariably hold the fish in the same position, viz. 

 parallel to their body, and with the head always foremost. So 

 unexceptional is this, that if I had not seen several on the 

 wing at once, I should have had some difficulty in persuading 

 myself that it was not the same bird seen repeatedly. Instinct, 

 no doubt, teaches the bird that its prey carried in this manner 

 offers the least resistance to its flight. I did not see so many 

 varieties of birds about the Bar as I had expected. There are 

 some vessels lying there, laden with live oak, waiting for a 

 change of wind to go to sea ; and the crews are always '' loafing " 

 about the shore with guns, and driving everything away. Sheldon 

 says that Terns breed in numbers on the sand-banks, but this 

 will be later in the season. 



29th. — Out early in the morning to some extensive pine-bar- 

 rens about two miles inland. I see a small flock of Parroquets, 

 and with some little difficulty manage to get within range and 

 kill two, only one of which I can find. I also see an Ivory-billed 

 Woodpecker. In the afternoon I go along the shore, and kill a 

 Willet — one of a small flock which are feeding on the mud from 

 which the tide has receded. 



30th. — Out at sunrise to some savannahs or open meadows, 

 about three miles south of Sheldon^s. It is very gamy-looking 

 ground, with grassy savannahs and thick hummocky woods lying- 

 in alternate belts. Birds are scarce, and I only got a Pileated 

 Woodpecker, but sec in the distance two Deer and a Turkey. 



