136 



Scott on the Bird Rookeries of Southern Florida. 



[April 



The boat chartered for the trip was a small sloop of about five 

 tons measurement, called the 'Tantalus.' I was accompanied 

 only by the captain of the boat, and Mr. Dickinson, my assistant. 

 The somewhat detailed account of this journey presented in the 

 following pages is given in the form of a diary, having ^as its 

 basis the notes registered in my log of each day's events. 



April 30. Left Tarpon Springs at 10 a. m., and going out of 

 the Anclote River, our boat was headed southward. As we 

 passed out of the mouth of the river, the buoys, beacons, and 

 stakes that mark the channel were made very conspicuous by the 

 numbers of Florida Cormorants {Phalacrocorax dilop/nis Jlori- 

 danus) that were alighted on every part of the structures that 

 afforded a roosting place. These birds have a 'rookery' or breed- 

 ing and night roosting place on Lake Butler, about three miles 

 inland from the mouth of the river, and every morning and even- 

 ing are to be seen passing to and from the salt water of the Gulf, 

 which is their principal fishing ground. They fly in flocks of 

 from six to forty, and now and then a single bird or pair is to be 

 seen passing over. At the rookery breeding fairly begins by the 

 10th of May, though a few birds may lay their eggs a little earlier. 

 The birds are among the very few still found in Florida that are 

 unsuspicious, being fairly tame and familiar, passing close over 

 the tops of the cottages and houses making up the town of Tarpon 

 Springs in their daily flights over the land between the fresh and 

 salt water. 



The two islands in the Gulf of Mexico, three miles off the 

 mouth of the Anclote River, are known as the Anclote Keys, and 

 are the headquarters of the fleet of Key West vessels employed 

 in the sponge fishing. Six years ago the smaller of these two 

 keys was a 'rookery,' both for breeding and roosting, for count- 

 less pairs of birds. There were literally thousands of them. The 

 several acres of breeding ground are closely wooded with man- 

 grove and other trees and bushes, and each tree or bush of any 

 size contained several nests. There were also the several kinds 

 of Herons to be found here (I have records of Ardea kerodias, 

 A. egretta, A. candidissima, A. tricolor riiji coll is, A. ccerulca. 

 A. virescens, Nycticorax nycticorax nccvius, and N. violaca/s 

 as all occurring and probably breeding on this island) , Cormo- 

 rants in great numbers, and Brown Pelicans {Pclccau?/sfnscus) . 

 Besides, during May and June, hundreds of pairs of Frigate 



