38 WILD WINGS 



ing. The Louisiana Herons had eggs, and there were about 

 a dozen empty nests, some of which had feathers in them of 

 the " Men-o'-War," but which were probably the homes of the 

 cormorants which we had seen in the vicinity. Audubon 

 found on the keys rookeries of the Man-o'-War Birds, which 

 were beginning to breed at this very same time, in May, but 

 of late years they have not been known to nest within the 

 United States. Their presence in such large numbers made 

 me confident that they were preparing to lay. To make sure, 

 I had the guide visit these resorts later in the summer, and 

 he did not in any case find the birds breeding. They build 

 a huge nest of sticks, like the cormorant, and lay two or three 

 dirty-whitish eggs. As we pulled back to the vessel through 

 the narrows, a pair of the exquisite pink Roseate Spoonbills 

 flew close by the boat, giving me a splendid and memorable 

 view of their glory. 



Alas for the procrastinating naturalists ! The Frigates were 

 seen till dark hovering over a distant isle. They did not 

 return to this roost at all, and next morning at daybreak all 

 of them had entirely disappeared, except a few stragglers that 

 rose to mock the cameras of the delinquents. More and more 

 convinced am I that the only safe time to photograph birds, 

 no matter how plenty they may be, is the first time they show 

 themselves. 



During the cruise we had watched longingly and carefully 

 for a sight of the great rosy Flamingos. That pleasure was 

 not for us. Small bands of the wary creatures are yet seen 

 during fall, winter, and early spring. The last small flock was 

 noticed by our guide in March. But it was now May, their 

 nesting-time in the West Indies and the Bahamas, and thither 

 all stragglers had evidently retired. We had now explored 

 pretty thoroughly the only possible region in the United States 

 where they could nest, and it can be safely assumed that this 



