THE GULF COAST OF FLORIDA 265 



Fortunately, these occurrences answered a good 

 purpose. The town authorities of course had 

 noticed these birds, and I had frequently warned 

 people not to kill them ; but this lesson was better 

 than all preaching. Now a law was made that, 

 within a certain distance of the town, and on the 

 adjacent waters, no one should be allowed to fire 

 a gun. As a consequence, during many ensuing 

 winters many kinds of birds frequented these 

 waters; wild ducks swam about in the bayou 

 which reached away into the town, and became so 

 tame as to approach within a few feet and pick up 

 pieces of bread thrown to them, much as swans 

 and ducks down on the ponds in Central Park. 

 They soon found out that here they would be 

 unmolested. 



Nor was this the only place where similar re- 

 sults followed protective steps. There is a hotel 

 on Tampa Bay located at the end of a long rail- 

 way wharf which extends several miles out from 

 the shore. Here passengers embarking and arriv- 

 ing on the steamer for Key West are entertained. 

 The dining-room windows did not simply look 

 out upon the water, but were over it, the walls of 

 the house rising on piles straight from the bay. 

 While taking breakfast one morning in March, the 

 windows all open, I was surprised to see countless 

 wild ducks, chiefly the lesser scaup, swimming 

 about close to the building, much at home. On 



