THE GREAT CUTHBERT ROOKERY 
77 
CORMORANTS, IBISES, AND A HERON. “FLUTTERING FROM THE LOW MANGROVES” 
the great open, grassy quagmires of the Everglades is only 
a few miles from this spot. These marshes are the main re¬ 
sort of this bird, which is often called “ Snail Hawk,” because 
it is said to feed almost exclusively on an abounding species 
of fresh-water snail, extracting the creature from its shell by 
means of the hooked bill. There were plenty of these empty 
snail-shells about, upon which, very probably, these kites 
had been feeding. As they soared, — the whole six quite close 
together and rather low over the island, — though the sun 
had gone down, I secured some tolerable snap-shot silhouette 
pictures of the interesting party. 
The only other feathered visitors to the rookery which 
we noticed were a few straggling Wood Ibises and Ward’s 
Herons. But there were some gentry with leathery hides 
which were too interesting to be neglected. The lake was 
a great place for alligators, and we often saw them floating 
on the shallow, muddy water, quite near the shores of the 
