282 Bird -Lore 



marshes covered with long grass and with extensive thickets of black mangrove 

 bushes. About two hundred pairs of Louisiana Herons were breeding in the 

 mangroves; most of the young were nearly grown and almost ready to fly. 

 There were about two hundred pairs of Black Skimmers nesting on the shell 

 beaches with full sets of eggs; only one young Skimmer had hatched. Laugh- 

 ing Gulls and Forster's Terns, about a thousand pairs of each, were nesting 

 on the marshes, among the beach grass and under bushes. Most of the Terns' 

 and many of the Gulls' eggs had hatched and one young Forster's Tern, 

 nearly ready to fly, was observed. 



The remaining two days were spent on the return journey among the num- 

 erous small islands in the so-called Louisiana Marsh, a portion of the Mis- 

 sissippi Delta, cut up by many bays and channels, including Morgan Harbor, 

 Eloi Bay and the Corrall islands. These islands are flat and marshy, with 

 scattered clumps of small black mangrove bushes, and with occasional strips 

 of shell beaches. Butcher's island was one of the most interesting, with a 

 colony of about two hundred pairs of Black Skimmers, a pair of Willets and 

 about five hundred pairs of Laughing Gulls. This was the island on which 

 Mr. Job found the Louisiana and Snowy Heron breeding, but there were none 

 there this year and, so far as I could learn, there were no Snowy Herons breed- 

 ing anywhere in the Reservation. Nearly all of these islands were thickly 

 populated with Laughing Gulls. Where there were shell beaches, small colonies 

 of Black Skimmers were found; and where there were mangrove bushes, colo- 

 nies of Louisiana and Black-crowned Night Herons had succeeded in raising 

 their broods. Many small colonies of Forster's Terns were seen, and a few 

 scattering pairs of Caspian Terns were nesting among the Black Skimmers. 

 On nearly all suitable islands one or two pairs of Willets were breeding, and 

 ■evidently had young concealed in the grass, for they were very demonstra- 

 tive and noisy. The specimens that I collected were referable to the eastern 

 sub-species, though the western form has been said to breed on the Louisiana 

 coast. A few Louisiana Clapper Rails were seen on the marshy islands ; Florida 

 Red-wings were common, and Louisiana Seaside Sparrows were abundant. 

 Large numbers of Brown Pelicans were seen on nearly all of the outer islands, 

 but they had long since finished breeding. Man-o'-war-birds were also com- 

 mon, and Captain Sprinkle said that they bred on the Reservation in Feb- 

 ruary. 



The warden seems to be doing his work thoroughly and conscientiously, 

 making the circuit of the Reservation regularly once a week, and all the 

 colonies appear to be flourishing under his care ; but he is seriously handicapped 

 by the lack of a good, fast power-boat or au.xiliary. Nearly all of the fisher- 

 men have auxiliary motors in their sail-boats, and can easily escape when they 

 see the warden coming. He has an immense area to patrol, about five hun- 

 dred square miles, and should have the best facilities, in order to get the 

 best results. 



