Vol. xxn Bent, Nesting Habits of Florida Herodiones. 23 



fairly abundant on the southern coasts of Florida during the 

 winter, feeding in large flocks in the shallows of the Bay of 

 Florida, in the muddy inlets along the shore, and in the shallow 

 lakes and sloughs in the interior. One of their favorite feeding 

 grounds is a large, so-called 'slough' near Cape Sable, but very 

 different in character from the typical western prairie slough. 

 This is apparently a submerged forest, killed by inundations 

 from the sea, the remains of which are still standing, tall dead 

 trees, many of them of large size, bare and bleached. During 

 the fall and early winter the slough is full of water but at the time 

 we were there, in April, it was partially dry in spots, but mostly 

 soft and boggy, with sluggish streams and numerous shallow 

 muddy pools scattered through it, forming fine feeding grounds 

 for Spoonbills, Ibises and other water birds. There is another 

 favorite resort of the Spoonbills on one of the keys which has a 

 fair sized lake in the centre. Large flocks of ' Pink Curlews', as 

 they are called by the natives, had been seen almost daily 

 flying to and from this lake. Owing to this fact we were lead to 

 suppose that we might find a breeding rookery here, but a day's 

 search failed to reveal even a single bird. I am inclined to infer 

 that they come here only to feed in the shallow muddy waters of 

 the lake or to roost in the mangroves around it. 



We found the Roseate Spoonbills breeding in only two localities, 

 in large mixed rookeries with several other species. The first 

 locality was a small island, not over two acres in extent, in the 

 centre of a large lake in the interior, Cuthbert Lake, about seven 

 miles back from the coast and almost on the edge of the everglades. 

 It was covered with a thick growth of black mangroves, mixed 

 with white ' buttonwoods' and a few black ' buttonwoods,' in 

 the centre and surrounded by a wide belt of red mangroves 

 growing in the mud and water up to three feet in depth. 



As we approached the island an immense cloud of birds arose, 

 with a mighty roar of wings, and circled about us in a bewildering 

 mass. We estimated that there were at least 4000 birds nesting 

 on the island, principally White Ibises and Louisiana Herons, 

 with a great many Little Blue Herons, Anhingas and Florida 

 Cormorants, and a few American Egrets. But conspicuous 

 among them all was a little party of twelve Roseate Spoonbills; 



