Vol. XXI 

 1Q04 



J DuTCJiER, Report of Committee on Bad Protection, I2Q 



nearly grown. We also counted 12 Roseate Spoonbills, as they left the 

 island, but found only three of their nests, two with eggs and one with two 

 young birds less than half grown. A small flock of Wood Ibises flew from 

 the rookei-y when we arrived, but we found none of their nests. A few 

 Everglade Kites came here to roost at night. 



But even this great rookery was far surpassed by one discovered in an 

 almost impassable morass at Alligator Lake, about four miles inland from 

 near Cape Sable; the mangrove islands, on which the birds were nesting, 

 were well protected by impenetrable jungles of saw grass, treacherous mud 

 holes, and apparently bottomless creeks of soft mud. The various species 

 of the Heron family were nesting here in countless numbers, White Ibises, 

 Louisiana Herons, Roseate Spoonbills, Snowy Herons and American 

 Egrets ; there was a perfect sea of nests and hosts of young birds in all 

 stages of growth, most of them being hatched at this time. May 16; but 

 the area was too vast and the traveling too difficult to arrive at any accu- 

 rate estimate of their numbers or relative abundance. We were able to 

 spend but one afternoon in the actual rookery and could get to but a small 

 part of it. Wood Ibises were probably nesting beyond where we pene- 

 trated, and possibly other species. 



Among the small rookeries we found a few things of special interest, 

 notably a small colony of half a dozen pairs of Great White Herons, nest- 

 ing on one of the smaller mangrove keys; the nests, on April 29, all held 

 young birds, some just hatched and some fully grown. 



These birds are common among the Keys and we frequently found 

 nests of this species and Ward's Heron from which the young had 

 flown. Both of these species are extremely wary and do not need much 

 protection. 



On a large, partly sandy key we found a colony of Laughing Gulls pre- 

 paring to breed ; also a breeding colony of about 40 pairs of Least Terns, 

 a few Wilson's Plovers, and a few Black-necked Stilts, all of which had 

 fresh eggs on May 8. 



A flock of about 100 Black Skimmers constantly frequented a flat, muddy 

 island in one of the bays, but we could find no evidence of their 

 breeding. 



We made a special effort to locate the breeding grounds of the Man-o'- 

 War Birds, which were everywhere abundant among the Keys, but were 

 unsuccessful. We discovered several of their roosts, one of which con- 

 tained from 1,000 to 1,200 birds. We were forced to conclude that they do 

 not breed in this region at all or that they breed at a much earlier or a 

 later date. 



In Southern Florida, as elsewhere, the plume hunters have done their 

 work thoroughly, but there is not much to be feared from them in the 

 future, simply because there are very few desirable plume birds left for them 

 to hunt. The American Egrets and Snowy Herons are so reduced in 

 numbers that it does not pay to hunt them. There are, however, a few of 

 these birds still left in nearly all of the less accessible rookeries, so that, 



