THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 



birds and in making a series of studies and photographs of 

 their habits. The birds lay a single egg in May in a nest 

 constructed by scooping up mud with the bill and patting it 

 down with the bill and feet. The nests are raised to a 

 height of from eight to fourteen inches to protect the con- 

 tents from water. Both sexes incubate, one by day and the 

 other by night. The young bird is fed by the mother on 

 predigested food. When hatched it is covered with brown 

 colored down, and it does not assume the brilliant plumage 

 of the adult until five or six months old. 



The Booby and the Man-o'-War Bird. The male man- 

 o'-war bird has a remarkable habit of inflating its throat- 

 pouch until it resembles a toy balloon. With its great wing 

 expanse of between seven and eight feet, the man-o'-war 

 bird is one of the most powerful and graceful of fliers. The 

 boobies were found to nest only on the ground. The scene 

 is reproduced from studies made on Cay Verde, a coral islet 

 in the Bahamas. 



A Florida Rookery. In the group are roseate spoonbills, 

 snowy American egrets, herons, ibises, cormorants and wa- 

 ter turkeys. Studies made on an islet in Cuthbert Lake, 

 Florida. 



Whistling Swan. These birds are noted for their clear, 

 far-reaching voices. They are fierce fighters, striking dan- 

 gerous blows with the bony knob on the wing and using bill 

 and claws vigorously. This is now one of the rarest birds 

 in North America, there being no recent records of its nest- 



80 



