PAEADISE KEY SAFFORD. 379 



" The decrease of many species of birds," he says, " has been so 

 marked in recent years that it is of great importance to have for them 

 places where they can breed in undisturbed seclusion. If there do not 

 already exist colonies of herons on this reservation, it would be very 

 desirable to induce these birds, if possible, to take up their residence 

 in the swamps, which I understand are a part of the park, so they 

 could be protected, as they must be, if the various species of heron 

 are to be preserved from extinction. For many birds, also, the Royal 

 Palm State Park should prove to be a desirable haven and refuge, and 

 it will undoubtedly help to preserve from extinction many of the 

 interesting species that inhabit southern Florida." 



CLIMATE AND RAINFALL. 



Southern Florida, though usually blessed with an almost tropical 

 climate, is sometimes subject in the winter months to severe storms 

 from the north, in which the thermometer falls below the freezing 

 point. But this is also true of some parts of the island of Cuba, 

 which has repeatedly suffered frosts that have done great damage to 

 the more tender vegetation. Along the coast, where the influence of 

 the warm Gulf Stream is felt, much less damage has been done than 

 farther inland. That these occasional cold spells have not seriously 

 injured the vegetation of Paradise Key is shown by the presence in 

 its flora of noble royal palms more than 100 feet high, tropical 

 orchids, and other tender plants, and insects belonging to types es- 

 sentially tropical. On the other hand many temperate species, both 

 of plants and animals, extend their range southward to this region ; 

 although, as far at least as the animals are concerned, the temperate 

 species are here represented by varieties or subspecies which take the 

 place of the northern types. 



Generally speaking, there is a rainy season during the summer and 

 autumn and a dry season during the winter months, but the limits 

 of these seasons are not constant or well defined. During the rainy 

 season the Everglades are flooded with water, while in the dry win- 

 ter months they are dry enough to be crossed on foot. The accom- 

 panying illustrations (pi. 1) show Paradise Key in the distance with 

 the Everglades, both dry and flooded, in the foreground. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE EVERGLADES. 



The Everglades owe their characteristic features of marsh, sloughs, 

 and shallow ponds, to their recent origin and their slight elevation 

 above the sea level. Their general surface is not high enough to per- 

 mit the formation of deep valleys by eroding streams ; and the water 

 appears to ooze slowly seaward, on the west side toward the south- 

 west and on the east side toward the southeast. 1 



1 See Sanford, Samuel', The topography and geology of southern Florida, in Second 

 Annual Report of the Florida State Geol. Survey, p. 189. 1909. 



