178 



BAHAMA BIRD-LIFE 



an early hour preparations were made for the second 

 invasion of the rookery. As with blind and cameras we 

 now approached, the birds left their nests with the same or- 

 derly sequence of movement shown the preceding afternoon, 

 gathering in a densely massed flock in the lagoon. The 

 blind was quickly set in the place arranged for it, and hung 

 with mangrove branches and palmetto leaves. I entered it 

 and Mrs. Chapman at once started for camp. 



" A dozen yellow-eyed birds at my threshold " 



This was a moment of supreme interest. Would the 

 birds return to their nests, the nearest of which were about 

 thirty feet from me, or would the blind arouse their sus- 

 picions 1 Twice they rose in a body and swept over the 

 rookery, each time alighting again in the lagoon. It was a 

 reconnoissance in force, with evidently satisfactory results. 

 No signs of danger were detected in the rookery, and, in the 

 absence of ability to count, the retreat of one figure across 



