378 



THE OO^OGIST 



a board (we had come off without 

 oars) which was very unhandy, es- 

 pecially so to one who has been used 

 to rowing, but just the same I did not 

 think it too hard to undertake, realiz- 

 ing what was in store for us if rook- 

 ery were reached. With an hour and 

 ing what was in store if the rook- 

 ery was reached, the sounds of the 

 noisy young were heard long before 

 their end of the lake was discovered, 

 and at a distance the trees appeared 

 as if partly covered with white sheets. 



Upon finding so many young birds, 

 and in all trees the same way I be- 

 gan to feel rather doubtful as to wheth- 

 er I would secure any eggs or not, but 

 a birdman is hard to discourage, so 

 with a feeling of confidence we began 

 our search for eggs. 



The first approached was a low cy- 

 press only ten feet high growing in 

 four feet of water, and out 60 feet 

 from the edge of the lake, and it con- 

 tained six Wood Ibis nests all hold- 

 ing young, I should judge were fully 

 six weeks old, and two occupied nests 

 of the Snakebird. The young of one 

 nest as we came too near, became sus- 

 piciously alarmed, and plunged head 

 first into the water, and swam to the 

 tall grass near shore to remain con- 

 cealed until all signs of danger were 

 past. It is marvelous how they reveal 

 such wonderful instinct at so young an 

 age. Think of hopping directly out of 

 a warm nest and diving into a chilly 

 body of water with all its lurking 

 dangers! The other nest contained 

 four badly nest-stained eggs, which 

 were incubated about one week. Les- 

 lie, my companion, did the climbing 

 for me as I had severely sprained my 

 knee by jumping from a wagon and 

 catching my foot in the reins, throw- 

 ing the knee-cap out of position with 

 the jerk in landing. Thought for a 

 time I had broken it. This was done 

 some weeks previous. 



The old birds lingered at the nests 

 until we would paddle within twenty- 

 five feet of them, but when they saw 

 that it was no use trying to resist 

 the persistent and stubborn advances 

 of the birdmen, they were off emitting 

 a peculiar gruntal sound amidst loud 

 flapping of wings. Soon they began to 

 circle around overhead uttering an oc- 

 casional deep-throated grunt, as if 

 questioning our authority, or perhaps 

 it would be more correct to surmise 

 that it was done to establish the 

 quietude of the noisy young which 

 were doing their utmost to drown out 

 all other living sounds. The air just 

 fairly rung with Ibis "music." Ward 

 Herons, Florida Cormorants, and 

 Snakebirds flew restlessly and uneasi- 

 ly about knowing that something out 

 of the ordinary was going on, and their 

 inquisitive natures prompted them to 

 see for themselves. One tall tree (cy- 

 press) contained a nest of the Ward 

 Heron, one Cormorant, and three 

 Wood Ibis nests, all occupied with 

 young with the exception of Cormor- 

 ant, which contained three badly in- 

 cubated eggs. Two cypresses grow- 

 ing close together had interlocked, 

 and this seemed to be a favorite tree 

 judging from nests in them. There 

 were four Cormorant nests, and eight 

 or ten of the Ibis; all eggs had hatch- 

 ed of both species and the young var- 

 ied in ages from two to seven weeks. 

 I estimated the number in this tree 

 at forty-five counting both species; 

 there was scarcely standing room for 

 all, and it was a mystery to me how 

 they kept from being jostled into the 

 water below. The noise coming from 

 this tree was something tremendous. 

 As we advanced from one tree to the 

 next we could see Ibises soaring over 

 the swamp and alighting in the nests 

 behind us with food in their sharp and 

 spear-like beaks. These were possibly 

 birds that had gone after food before 



