124 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 
their nesting, made the outcome of our trip more or less uncertain, and 
the difficulties encountered in reaching this remote islet added in no small 
degree to the pleasure with which we found it thickly populated with 
Boobies and Man-o’-war Birds whose nesting season was at its height. 
There is no harbor at Cay Verde, and, fearing that we might be forced 
by a storm to sail before our work was finished, Mr, Shiras and I camped 
on the islet, while Dr. Mayer anchored off shore, changing his position 
from one side of the Cay to the other as the wind shifted. 
We estimated that there were about 3000 Boobies and 500 Man-o’- 
war Birds on Cay Verde. ‘The Boobies nested on the ground, the Man- 
o’-war Birds in the dense thickets of sea grape and cactus. Some nests 
contained fresh eggs, but the larger number held young birds in various 
stages of development, while a few young were already on the wing. 
The existing conditions therefore presented an epitome of the whole 
nesting season. 
The Boobies were remarkably tame, and our intrusion occasioned 
surprise and resentment rather than fear. One could walk among them 
as one would through a poultry yard, examining the nests and their 
occupants without attempt at concealment. The Man-o’-war Birds 
were more suspicious but still were approached without difficulty. Under 
these circumstances photographs and specimens were easily secured, and 
in the course of three days satisfactory material was collected for the 
proposed group. A much longer period would be required to make 
adequate studies of the life of this bird community.’ Cay Verde was left 
April 11, and, after encountering the usual unfavorable” conditions and 
some mishaps, we arrived at Miami, Florida, April 29. 
It being now too late to do the work planned for southern Florida, | 
proceeded to South Carolina, being joined by Mr. J. D. Figgins of the 
Museum’s Department of Preparation and by Mr. Bruce Horsfall, the 
artist who has so successfully painted many of the backgrounds of the 
groups already completed. 
It has long been our desire to include the White Egret in the series of 
“Habitat Groups,” but plume hunters have brought this bird so near the 
verge of extermination that our efforts to find a ‘‘rookery” in which 
suitable studies might be made were fruitless before the present year. 
In February, 1907, information was received of the existence of a colony 
of Egrets on a large game preserve in South Carolina, and the owners 
of the preserve readily granted the Museum permission to make the 
