225 



THE OOLOGIST 



I found this district to be most 

 populous in bird life, both of aquat- 

 ic and land varieties. On any day I 

 could see from twenty-five to fifty 

 species, some of which would be rep- 

 resented by hundreds of individuals. 

 Starting on the ocean beach, half a 

 mile across the island, and walking 

 up the inlet, one may see half a 

 dozen Herring gulls, perhaps thirty 

 Bonaparte gulls, riding on the edge 

 of the surf, and a dozen or two 

 Laughing gulls. Above the breakers 

 are scores of darting Caspian and 

 Royal terns, while the smaller 

 Forster and common terns are plen- 

 tiful. An occasional Loon may be 

 seen floating just beyond the break- 

 ers. Flocks of ten, twenty or thirty 

 Brown Pelicans fly past, while here 

 and there a dozen or two are hover- 

 ing above a school of Menhaden, or 

 mullet, as one after another they 

 plunge clumsily downward, head first, 

 to engulf as many unfortunate fishes 

 as they can in their great pouches. 

 On the beach, rising in flocks before 

 you, are Ruddy Turnstones, Semi- 

 Palmated Sandi)ipers, Semi-Palmated 

 Plover and Sanderlings and now and 

 then a Black Bellied Plover. Os- 

 preys are rare. A Bald Eagle is no 

 unusual sight. Nearly every walk on 

 the beach brings one to view. 



Rounding the point of the inlet, if 

 the tide is ebbing, the bars are seen 

 covered with Pelicans, Terns and 

 large flocks of Black Skimmers. 

 Soaring above the reeds are a couple 

 of graceful Marsh hawks. A flock of 

 Fish crows flap noisely by. Great 

 Blue, Little Blue and Louisiana Her- 

 ons walk about in the shallow waters. 

 A few stately American Egrets are 

 to be seen, their yellowish bills, 

 wiiite plumage and black legs shining 

 in the sunlight. You may see a 

 Green Heron on a stump and perhaps 

 a Black Crowned Night Heron perch- 



ed alone in a tree by the bank. The 

 marshes resound, at times, with the 

 noisy clatter of Clapper rails. A 

 King fisher rattles overhead. A 

 swift flock of Mallards or Scaup 

 ducks may go fleeting past. Seaside 

 s])arrows skulk in the tall reeds and 

 Marsh wrens flit to and fro among 

 them. A Florida Cormorant is seen 

 sitting on a beacon post in the chan- 

 nel of the river. A few Killdeer are 

 heard from an ad,iacent mud flat. 

 Spotted sandpipers teeter up and 

 down the beach. A few Wood Ibis 

 are escried, soaring high above the 

 river. 



At our back among the woods, be- 

 set with thick underbrush, are found 

 Blue gray, Gnat catchers, Vireos, 

 Brown Thrashers, Cat birds. Mockers 

 and Wrens, Cardinals, Florida Jays 

 and perhaps a Blue .Jay, Ground 

 doves. Shrikes, a few Warblers, no- 

 ticeably Myrtles, Phoebes, Woodpeck- 

 ers of several varieties, one or two 

 species of the Hawk tribe, quantities 

 of Towhees, an occasional Thrush 

 and now and then a flock of Robins. 



The birds named above are the 

 ones most frequently seen. There 

 are rarer species of course seen now 

 and then. I know of no place in 

 Florida where a few days in the win- 

 ter months may be so enjoyable 

 passed in bird pursuits as at Corona- 

 do and Mosquito Inlet. 



R. .J. Longstreet. 

 Deland, Fla. 



The Kennicott Screech Owl in 

 Washington. 



In the spring of 1909, while walk- 

 ing along the banks of Wilson Creek, 

 Kittitas County, Washington, I dis- 

 covered my first Kenicott. It was 

 April 2.5, a fine warm day, and the 

 willows and brush along the creek 

 was swarming with warblers, song 

 sparrows and Chickadees. 



