28 On the trail of vanishing birds 



ing sign and employ a man to try to prevent these birds from 

 being killed there. 



Today this same community is proud of the fact that this is 

 the only town in the United States where roseate spoonbills are 

 a daily sight each winter. You can see them feeding in ditches 

 along the highway and you can stand in front of the drugstore and 

 point them out to visitors. "Look, right overhead there goes a 

 spoonbill!" Two years ago the Upper Keys Chamber of Com- 

 merce distributed a brochure that listed all the motels, restaurants, 

 fishing guides, and places of interest to tourists. And on the cover 

 was a picture of one of the star attractions. It wasn't a Marilyn Mon- 

 roe figure in a Bikini, nor was it the usual Florida palm tree. You've 

 probably guessed it! The picture was that of a roseate spoonbill 

 none other than Ajaia ajaja and when I saw it I knew that the 

 spoonbill had finally come into its own. It couldn't have happened 

 to a more deserving citizen! 



