24 Bent, Nesting Habits of Florida Herodiones. Tjan. 



they perched for a few moments in the mangroves, their gorgeous 

 nuptial plumage showing to advantage against the dark green 

 foliage, then rose, gradually circling higher and higher, the sun 

 illuminating their delicately rose-colored wings, as with out- 

 stretched necks and legs they seemed to fade away into the sky. 

 We did not see them again that day. 



Though we searched carefully and thoroughly, we found only 

 three of their nests. These were all built in red mangrove trees 

 on the edge of the water among the nests of the White Ibises; 

 they were all on nearly horizontal branches, from 12 to 15 feet 

 from the ground, and were all similar in size and construction, 

 easily distinguishable from the others. They were larger than the 

 Ibises' nests or the smaller Herons' nests and about as large 

 as the Anhingas' nests, but more neatly made than the latter, 

 without the use of dead leaves, which are so characteristic of the 

 Snakebirds' nests ; they were well made of large sticks, deeply 

 hollowed and lined with strips of bark and water moss. One nest 

 contained only a single, heavily incubated egg, one a handsome 

 set of three eggs, and the other held two downy young, not 

 quite half grown. 



The single egg has a dirty white ground color with only a few 

 irregular blotches of raw umber and mummy brown about the 

 larger end; it measures 2.58 by 1.72 inches, being somewhat 

 elongated ovate in shape. The set of three eggs have a pinkish, 

 creamy white ground color, more or less uniformly covered with 

 dashes and spots of lavender, purple and drab, over which spots 

 of various shades of brown are quite evenly distributed. 



The eggs somewhat resemble those of the White Ibis, but can 

 always he easily distinguished by their larger size ; they will 

 average one quarter of an inch larger each way. 



The two young, in the feeble, helpless stage, unable to stand as 

 yet, were curious looking birds, flabby and fat, with enormous 

 abdomens and soft duck-like bills ; their color, including bill, feet, 

 legs and entire skin, was a beautiful, deep, rich salmon pink ; they 

 were scantily covered with short white down which was insuffi- 

 cient to conceal the color of the skin ; the wing quills were well 

 started, but still in sheaths. The first plumage, acquired before 

 the young leave the nest, is mainly white with a slight suffusion 

 of pink under the wings and tail. 



