AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 115 



ever seen, until about three o'clock, and then concluded that we should 

 have to give up the search for the day and return to the boat, for to be 

 caught in the Everglades after dark is one of the least desirable pros- 

 pects that I know of. 



We had just Started back and rounded a "bay-head" when right be- 

 fore US was disclosed the most wonderful sight that I have ever seen. 

 There, not three hundred yards away on a mud flat, were fifty-seven of 

 these most beautifully plumaged birds. The first thought that came 

 into my mind was that they resembled the large patch of rose bushes 

 in füll bloom, that we used to see when "we were boys." 



They were asleep, evidently having their after dinner nap, after hav- 

 ing fed during the low tide. We approached to within about fifty yards 

 of them when one of their number took alarm and the whole flock arose 

 with a deafening whirring and beating of wings, and with their necks 

 extended to the füllest and their legs hanging downwards and back- 

 wards made their way rapidly across the marsh, appearing against the 

 sky as a beautiful rose-colored cloud. 



When feeding, the flock goes to a mud flat just vacated by the out 

 going tide, where they walk about with their body horizontal and their 

 neck curved gracefully in front of them. Instead of picking or thrust- 

 ing, they strike their bill sideways into the mud, where they get snails, 

 crawfish and marine insects. I have always found that these birds can 

 offen be lured to you, by wearing a pink blouse and crouching down in 

 the marsh; doubtless they think they have found some other members 

 of their family. 



They nest in the dense mangrove swamps offen in Company with 

 Louisiana Herons. In their frail nest they deposit from three to five 

 eggs. These birds are very easily tamed and make quite attractive 

 pets. The young birds of the year are very handsome as well as the 

 adults. Their head is nearly all feathered and the plumage is a deli- 

 cate shade of pink including the areas that are scarlet or bufTy in the 

 adults. 



LEWIS WOODPECKER. 



A. O. U. No. 408. (Asyndesmus torqnatas.) 



RANGE. 



Breeds in Transition and Upper Sonoran zones from Rocky 

 Mountains to Sierras in United States and southern parts of 

 British Columbia; winters throughout California and in Western Texas. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length 10.50-11.50. Wing 6.50-6.80. Tail 4.40-4.70. Adults,— 

 above black with metallic greenish lustre; below, a soft gray. 



