16 



nests of the Anhino^as. No other birds were breeding here ex- 

 cept a single pair of Fish- Hawks, whose nest was surrounded by 

 those of the Ibis. The most favorite trees were those that were 

 growing in the water, so as to be inaccessible from the land ; 

 these were dwarfed, and gave a capital opportunity of examining 

 as many of the nests as was desirable. On first approaching the 

 shore, the birds all rose and flew round in circles, and, after a few 

 of them had been killed, flew off, but soon returned and alighted 

 >ut of shot, on the trees. The nests were made of small twigs, 

 and seemed to have been occupied for several years ; the cavity 

 was deep, and lined carefully with the long moss. The eggs 

 were three in number, nearly white, when not soiled by the 

 parent birds or stained by the moss. Three specimens selected 

 from some dozen gave the following measurement : the longest, 

 65 millimetres in length and 39 in breadth ; the broadest, 58 in 

 length and 45 in breadth ; and one that seemed to be of fair 

 average size, 59 in length and 41 in breadth. Incubation had 

 universally commenced by the 1st of April, and many of the 

 young were already hatched, the largest being about the size of a 

 pigeon, and entirely covered with white down. 



Audubon, in his description of this bird, alludes to Bartram's 

 description of it in the following language : " But the habits of 

 this bird are entirely at variance with the above quotation to 

 which I direct your attention not without a feeling of pain." I 

 think if Audubon had remembered what he often states himself, 

 that the habits of birds vary at different times and places, he 

 would not have made these remarks. It so happens that I went 

 over precisely the same ground on the St. Johns as Bartram, and 

 in the same way ; and that strange as it may seem, when the long 

 period of time that has elapsed is taken into view, my journal, as 

 far as it goes, is almost an exact repetition of his. While I was 

 in Florida I never saw a flock of Ibises except at their breeding- 

 places, and even there, except when they were disturbed, they 

 flew off and returned either singly or in pairs. " I did not see 

 them feeding in more than a few instances, and then never more 

 than a pair at a time. The stomachs of all those killed by me 

 contained nothing but crawfish, which could not have been pro- 

 cured readily in the way mentioned by Audubon as their only 

 method of feeding. 



