116 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 84. 



when we consider the vast amount of territory in Florida 

 that is covered with water. The crayfish also destroy levees 

 on the rivers and cause the destruction of millions of dollars 

 damage to growing crops. 



Snakes, especially the moccasins, which by the way com- 

 prised 95 per cent of the snakes captured by the Ibis, do lots 

 of harm. Moccasins in Rookeries destroy thousands of eggs 

 and young birds, and even if they didn't they are so deadly 

 poisonous that anything that helps to keep them down to 

 reasonable numbers is welcome. ^ 



My observations show the Ibis with a clear record of doing 

 100 per cent of good, not a bad thing can be laid to his door, 

 this fact in conjunction With its beauty makes it a bird that 

 should be given the very strictest protection by all persons. 

 Alas, though, the Ibis, or " Curlew," as it is called here in 

 the South, is considered good eating and thousands of them 

 annually fall victims to the guns of negroes, and the whites 

 also who prize them highly as an article of diet in the sum- 

 mer. However, I never yet found a nest of young of the 

 Glossy Ibis that had had the parents killed, although I have 

 seen hundreds of nests of White Ibis that were left to starve 

 for the reason of the fact that the old were killed on their 

 feeding grounds. This is due to the fact that the Glossy Ibis 

 is more alert and more suspicious than the White Ibis, and 

 naturally harder to approach. 



I trust this digression from the Glossy Ibis to the White 

 Ibis will be pardoned because of the fact that the food habits 

 of the two Ibises is so nearly alike that I feel that it is per- 

 fectly justifiable in noting the facts in the case. 



I don't much blame the Glossy Ibis for putting on airs and 

 being exclusive, as he is a handsome bird — none prettier as 

 he stands proudly on his nest on his return from his break- 

 fast with the early rising sun glistening on his damp, beauti- 

 ful and irridescent plumage. It is a sight that few have seen, 

 but one that would do any man's heart good to see. I waited 

 twenty-two days to get the frontispiece picture, which is the 



