56 
WILD WINGS 
ened to her loss, and imposes a very heavy fine for every 
one of these birds killed. Sincerely do I wish that every one 
who slaughters, or causes to be slaughtered, these animated 
bits of winged poetry, may feel the full weight of the penalty 
of the statute and of conscience. Such inaccessible tangles 
YOUNG WHITE IBIS ON ITS NEST 
of southern Florida are the last places of refuge, the last 
ditch of the struggle for existence to which these splendid 
species have been driven. 
As long as I kept very quiet, the birds did not manifest 
much concern at my presence. Climbing a tree, to get above 
the undergrowth, I screwed my 4x5 camera to a limb and 
proceeded to take pictures of the surrounding birds, with 
