136 



Bird - Lore 



"l trust you can prevail on some of the 

 patrons and humane people to put a stop 

 to this. It can be done easily with a 

 little money, and, as there must be 600 

 birds that will begin nesting in two weeks, 

 if unprotected there will not be a single 

 bird left. 



"I can get a man to watch it — a good 

 man who lives in the woods and knows all 

 the plume-hunters, and who will put a 

 stop to it if you can raise enough money 

 to engage him. We can get him deputized 

 here also, and he will then tell all the 

 hunters he is a warden to guard the Big 

 Cypress until the birds leave. He will 

 also guard the Rookery and 



the Rookery [names purposely 



omitted. — Ed.]. 



"He would require a team to have his 

 supplies sent in, and would be under pretty 

 heavy expenses; but this could be covered 

 by a cost of $100 a month, and he will 

 take the job for four months; one-half of 

 this amount would go for his expenses." 



The last two Rookeries mentioned above 

 contain in the neighborhood of 200 Egrets. 

 These are some of the largest colonies of 

 which we have been able to get positive 

 information of late, and it appears that 

 it is practical to undertake to guard them. 

 We know of a few colonies in South Florida 

 which we do not deem it advisable to 



AMERICAN EGRET KILLED 

 FEBRUARY, igi 



BY PLUME HUN'TERS IX SOUTH FLORIDA LATE IN 

 , AND OYERLOOKED IN THE DARKNESS 



Photographed just as it was found hanging in a tree where it had lodged in falling 



