RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



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Tlie Roseate Spoonbill In Florida Rookeries. 



Part IV. 



March 17th we visited another and much 

 larger rookery, abont twenty-five or thirt}' 

 miles north of the preceding one. The 

 bushes and briers forming the outer wall of 

 this one were impenetrable, and had to be 

 cut down in order to get our boat in. The 

 pond was much larger than that in the pre- 

 ceding, and a considerable portion of it was 

 free from bushes. Fift}' alligators could 

 easily be counted as they lay on the shore, 

 or in the various positions tiiey takeas they 

 lie upon the water ; some floating from tip of 

 nose to tip of tail, others from nose to mid- 

 dle of back, others with head only above, 

 and still others with only the knob on their 

 nose and their eyes above, and so unsus- 

 pecting were they that we hooked into one 

 with the boat-hook and enjoyed quite a ride ; 

 another took a crow offered to it from my 

 hand, and held it unconcernedly in its 

 mouth, while the boat went by within a 

 foot of it. 



A flock of from six to ten Everglade 

 Kites, Mostrliamne sociabilis plumheus^ were 

 sporting about like so man}' swallows over 

 the pond and adjoining marshes, and were 

 not in the least afraid of us. In general, 

 the incubation in this rookery was much 

 behind the last. We found but a couple 

 of Spoonbills' nests with eggs, although 

 there were three or four score of the birds 

 to be seen. The first day we did no shoot- 

 ing but confined ourselves to egging. Young 

 birds of even American Egrets and Snake- 

 birds, were scarce, by far the majority of 

 the nests having eggs, many of which were 

 fresh, and as in the case at the first rook- 

 ery, ten days previously, the Snowy and 

 Louisiana Herons' had in most cases their 

 complement of four fresh eggs each. The 

 Fish Crows were far more numerous than 

 before, and so fearless that we sometimes 

 approached near enough to almost grasp 

 their feet with our hands. We almost 

 groaned in spirit as the contents were taken 

 from a Spoonbill's nest directly before our 

 e^es. But we felt powerless to prevent it, 

 knowing the birds would leave by thou- 

 sands when the fii'ing began. 



March 18th we secured fourteen Spoon- 

 bills and shot down two or three others 

 which the 'gators appropriated. We also 



took three Everglade Kites, and it was for- 

 tunate that we did so, for on the following 

 day the place was almost deserted, only one 

 Spoonbill l)eing taken. There were, how- 

 ever, a number of AVhite Ibis at one end of 

 the pond where a clump of Cabbage Palms 

 grew. They were not there the da}' before 

 during our shooting, having left for their 

 feeding-grounds early in the morning, and 

 returning at night, else they might have 

 abandoned the place also. An investiga- 

 tion revealed the fact that they had just 

 begun laying, and one egg each was taken 

 from about twenty nests. These nests were 

 placed among the dead stems of the palm 

 leaves, and were quite difficult to climb to 

 because man}' stems would break away when 

 laid hold of. 



At this place a Pileated Woodpecker was 

 excavating for her nest within a gunshot of 

 our tent. And on the day of our departure 

 we investigated it, but the bird had not be- 

 gun laying. We broke camp, and returned 

 to Indian River on the 20th. 



Since the above article was written, I 

 have received a spoonbill from Tampa, Fla., 

 which has nearly the entire neck tinted, 

 many of the feathers having pink tips. It 

 is otherwise a highly colored specimen, and 

 as it was shot in November it may prove 

 that this species is in its highest plumage 

 during the autumn. 



What collector is there, who in his 

 3'ounger days has not forgotten his powder- 

 flask, caps, or even ramrod ? 



A prominent writer relates as follows, 

 regarding his first crow's nest : It was 

 in a large tree ver}' diflficult to ascend, 

 but by laboi-ious climbing he reached it, and 

 safely secured the eggs, which he put in his 

 hat. The descent was by no means eas}', 

 but the ground was reached in safety. His 

 dismay may well be imagined upon discover- 

 ing that he had left hat and eggs on the nest. 



' Brave Jay. — We are knowing to the 

 fact, that a boy found a blue jay's nest, and 

 on climbing to it, found it to contain young. 

 At this juncture the old bird returned and 

 fiercely flew into the boy's face ; then alight- 

 ing on his shoulder it pecked his face till it 

 bled. He says he won't climb to any more 

 jays' nests. 



