ON LONELY BIRD KEY 



93 



night for the " crawling " of the great turtles, bathing in the 

 limpid waters of the Gulf, upon the warm sandy beach gather- 

 ing curious sea-weeds, bright shells, sponges, and corals, 

 reading, forsooth, as did my companion aloud to me from 



SOOTY TERN OVER EGG 



the poems of Longfellow, as we sat at dusk looking out upon 

 the sea and watched the Man-o'-War Birds soar and the terns 

 come back with edible tidings from afar, and at night, free 

 from insect annoyance, for there are few mosquitoes on 

 the Dry Tortugas, be lulled to slumber on the open porch 

 by the weird cries of the birds ! This is living, indeed ! 



Had it not been for the Sooty Terns, this lone key would 

 have been a quiet spot. The great Man-o'-War Birds, seem- 



