Bird Life Big Cypress Swamp Region 95 



colony nesting in a little cypress swamp late in June, 1912, every plume 

 shed, but incubating eggs. There is still a sufficient nucleus of these 

 birds left in the Big Cypress region, so that the species will build up 

 rapidly if given proper protection. 



9. Egretta candidissima candidissima. Snowy Egret. Now but a 

 memory in this region. I have asked hunters and the settlers at Immo- 

 kalee about this bird and the answer is always the same : ' ' About eight 

 or ten years ago I saw one at such and such a place. ' ' This Egret is 

 still to be found, however, in the coast rookeries of Lee County and on 

 the Caloosahatchie Kiver near the Everglades. 



10. Hydrana^sa tricolor mficollis. Louisiana Heron. Abundant. Ob- 

 served nesting in company with Little Blue Herons In clumps of willows 

 in ponds during early April. 



11. Florida caerulea. Little Blue Heron. Always associated with 

 the Louisiana Heron and remarks about one are equally applicable to 

 the other. Large numbers of immature birds in the white plumage 

 were observed on the feeding grounds. 



12. Butorides virescens virescens. Green Heron. Not very common. 

 Observed only now and then and not found nesting. 



13. Nycticorax nyeticorax naevius. Black-crowned Night Heron. 

 Observed several times, and it is no doubt a breeding species, although 

 I did not find it nesting. 



14. Nyctanassa violacea. Yellow-crowned Night Heron. Quite a 

 number nested at the Corkscrew rookery and we used often to come 

 upon them feeding beside quiet pools and lagoons. 



15. Grus mexicana. Sandhill Crane. Still to be rated as a common 

 bird in Lee County. I hardly believe there was a day of my trip that 

 I failed to see or hear it. They were usually in pairs, though a number 

 of times I saw four or five together. The nesting of this bird is very 

 uncertain. It may begin in late February or it may be deferred to 

 April or May. Mr. Green told me of finding a nest early in June, 1912, 

 with fresh eggs. I am inclined to think the amount of water in the 

 nesting ponds is an important factor. The bird seems to require that 

 its nesting site be surrounded by water. Twice after heavy rains I 

 found them scratching up nests in grassy ponds which they abandoned 

 without using when the ponds began to dry up. Three occupied nests 

 were found, on April 4th and 8th, with eggs far advanced in incubation, 

 and on April 12th with fresh eggs. In this latter case the birds had 

 scratched up no less than four nests in a small flag pond I could throw 

 a stone across. Why the extra nests, two of which were only about half 

 complete, is a question. 



16. Aramus vociferus. Limpkin. Observed twice in the cypress 

 swamp at Corkscrew, and also feeding on a small lake on the marsh. 

 Presumably there was a small nesting colony in the vicinity. 



17. lonornis martinicus. Purple Gallinule. Observed several times 

 on small lakes feeding among the bonnets. 



