104 WILD WINGS 



from the slimy depths under the " bonnets " or the floating 

 fields of water-lettuce. In the swamp itself, that stretched 

 away for forty miles, a wonderful area of immense cypresses, 

 live-oaks, and other Southern trees, with stately palmettos to 

 guard its portals, the Barred Owls were quiet in the shade 

 of foliage and streaming Spanish moss, but the tall, stately 

 Wood Ibises great birds, almost " man grown " in stature 

 were nesting out on the spreading boughs of the cypresses, 

 a hundred, yes, a hundred and twenty-five feet from the 

 ground, where no enemy, without wings, could harm them. 



On the edge of this great, lonely, shadowy swamp was 

 an open slough or marsh, now nearly dried up by the spring 

 sunshine. To the last and deepest pool had resorted many 

 a small fish, in vain search for moisture for its parching gills. 

 But even that had become quite dry ; the fish lay dead in 

 heaps, and a flock of about a dozen Turkey Buzzards, gather- 

 ing there, had gorged themselves to repletion. Sluggishly 

 they stood on the moist ground, with drooping heads and 

 wings, revelling in their satiety and in the warm sunshine. 

 Little note did they take of passing time, until suddenly four 

 men came right upon them and forced them into unwilling 

 flight. 



It was our party, who had spent most of the day exploring 

 the great cypress swamp with two special plans in mind. 

 One was to see a nesting colony of the Wood Ibises in the 

 immense cypresses, which the guide had visited in previous 

 seasons ; the other was to find a reputed buzzard rookery. 

 Two " crackers" had called at our camp on the way to the 

 coast to sell some enormous rattlesnake skins, and, in describ- 

 ing the region, had told us of a place in the great swamp, 

 six or eight miles from here, which was a remarkable resort 

 for buzzards. Occasionally, in hunting, they had passed it, 

 and had seen large numbers of the buzzards sunning them- 



