THE OOLOGIST. 



143 



suri)rise found her setting on the eggs. 

 Thinking it useless for her to set on 

 frozen eggs, I decided to remove them, 

 and tried to "shoo" her off, but she 

 would not "shoo," and with all the 

 pounding and jarring on the stump, 

 and ])()kingwith sticks, I could do, I 

 could not persuade her to come out, so 

 I left her to her f()lly(?). As my wife 

 and I happened by the other daj^ hunt- 

 ing wild flowers, we peeped in the 

 stump, and to our great astonishment, 

 beheld three J'oung birds. A Mrs. Nut- 

 hatch was caught in a like predicament, 

 and I presume several others. 



I did not learn wliat became of the 

 Yellow-rumped Warblers during this 

 cold spell, l)ut they are here in force 

 now, along with Black and White 

 Creepers, Bewick's Wrens, Chippies, 

 and to-day Ai^ril 1st., a Dove cooes 

 mournfully. Turkeys have gobbled 

 since early in Feb. and will continue 

 till alxtut May 1st. Then their meat is 

 strong and lough, and the females are 

 busy nesting. There are fcAv I'laces 

 better than this tO study migration, and 

 from now on, each day will bring some 

 new arrivals. 



C. E. Pleas, 

 Clinton, Ark. 



The Wood Ibis. 

 (Tantalus loculator.) 



Is found in considerable numbers 

 througliout South Florida, and can be 

 found in droves of from about a dozen 

 to one hundred, usually in the more re- 

 mote cypress swamps and extensive 

 marsh districts, but sometimes in close 

 proximity to settlements. 



They are large and haiulsome birds 

 standing about four feet high, of the 

 purest white except wing tips which 

 are black, the head, and about six inch- 

 es of the neck is covered with a tough 

 skin devoid of feathers. 



Such is the general appearance of the 



bird, but it is more especially of its 

 nesting habits of which I wish to speak. 



It was tiie 23d of March that I started 

 with a friend to hunt for a rookery of 

 which Ave had neard, we traveled all 

 day with horse and buggy, and put up 

 at a farm house for the night. We were 

 out bright and early the next morning, 

 and after a tiresome drive of several 

 miles through dreary flatwoods and 

 mazes of ponds, Ave came in sight of 

 the coveted cypress as such a place is 

 called. 



The lake or pond Avas about i of a 

 mile long and i mile wide, quite deep 

 and clear, and Avas surrounded Avith a 

 wide fringe; of cypress trees heaAily la- 

 den Avith Spanish moss. 



Out in the center of the lake Avas a 

 small island about one hundred feet in 

 diameter, Avith about three feet eleva- 

 tion above the Avater. There Avere sca'- 

 eial large cypress trees besides a thick 

 undergrowth of bay trees. What a 

 siglit met our gaze from the shore, the 

 trees on the island Avere Avhite Avith the 

 Ibises standing close together on the 

 limbs, besides a number of Amei'ican 

 Egrets, Florida Cormorants and Anhin- 

 gas. 



The Ibises Avere nesting and Ave could 

 see a number of the birds sitting on 

 their nests. Most of the nests Avere on 

 the island, but Ave found tAvo trees near 

 the shore, one had live nests and tlie 

 other seven. 



After looking over the field I pro- 

 ceeded to climb the first tree, a large 

 cj'press, the nests were placed fifty feet 

 from the ground and Avere saddled flat- 

 ly on the top the top of a horizontal 

 limb. One limb had four nests in a 

 ■ow and Avere so close together that 

 iheir edges touched. A tyj)ical nest 

 wa- eighteen inches across by five inch- 

 es deep outside, onlv slightly depres.sed 

 inside, made of coarse sticks lined Avith 

 moss and green bay leaves. The eggs 

 Avere chalky Avhite and nearly ahvaj's 

 blood stained, the average set is three 



