326 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX 



gallinule, coast bittern, yellow-crowned night heron ; 

 and we found many extensive breeding places. This is 

 the home of the alligators, and they used to trouble us 

 by getting our birds as they fell into the water before 

 we could get to them. Sport can be had with alligators 

 by baiting a shark hook with a coot, or some other bird. 

 Fasten the end of the rope to the top of a small tree that 

 bends well and in the morning you are almost sure to 

 find one hooked. If a large one, you can only pull him 

 into the bank ; if a small one, keep away from his tail, 

 or teeth, and to get your hook, after you are done play- 

 ing with him, you must shoot him. In their stomachs 

 you will most always find a roll of feathers, fish and 

 often large moccasin snakes, and they sometimes eat one 

 another. I have seen one eight feet long in a large 

 one's mouth. Favorite birds for our party to shoot were 

 the white-plumed cranes, egrets, snowy herons, for their 

 plumes ; and we could make quite good collections of 

 Florida bird skins. The steamer had two small boats, 

 so we could go up the small creeks ; and we explored 

 most every lake and stream on the river. Although we 

 were so far south, we had no trouble with insects. All 

 the windows had wire gauze and we were careful to 

 keep the doors shut. Our sleeping accommodations and 

 our dining room were very good. The boat would run 

 about ten miles an hour and we would change our loca- 

 tion very easily. We found moccasin snakes very abun- 

 dant in the upper country, but had no trouble with 

 them. We saw very few rattlesnakes. One of our 

 party, Mr. Rice, at Lake Jessup, shot a white heron that 

 fell into the water near the shore. He saw a large alli- 

 gator start for the bird and Rice thought he could get 



