390 FLORIDA CORMORANT. 



not lay quite so early, and I found some going through their preparations 

 until the middle of May. Their courtships are performed on the water. 

 On the morning, beautiful but extremely hot, of the 8th of that month, 

 while rambling over one of the Keys, I arrived at the entrance of a nar- 

 row and rather deep channel, almost covered over by the boughs of the 

 mangroves and some tall canes, the only tall canes I had hitherto ob' 

 served among those islands. I paused, looked at the water, and obser- 

 ving it to be full of fish, felt confident that no shark was at hand. Cock- 

 ing both locks of my gun, I quietly waded in. Curious sounds now 

 reached my ears, and as the fishes did not appear to mind me. much, I 

 proceeded onward among them for perhaps a hundred yards, when I ob- 

 served that they had all disappeared. The sounds were loud and con- 

 stantly renewed, as if they came from a joyous multitude. The inlet 

 suddenly became quite narrow, and the water reached to my arm-pits. 

 At length I placed myself behind some mangrove trunks, whence I could 

 see a great number of Cormorants not more than fifteen or twenty yards 

 from me. None of them, it seemed, had seen or heard me ; they were 

 engaged in going through their nuptial ceremonies. The males while 

 swimming gracefully round the females, would raise their wings and tail, 

 draw their head over their back, swell out their neck for an instant, and 

 with a quick forward thrust of the head utter a rough guttural note, not 

 unlike the cry of a pig. The female at this moment would crouch as 

 it were on the water, sinking into it, when her mate would sink over 

 her until nothing more than his head was to be seen, and soon afterwards 

 both sprung up and swam joyously round each other, croaking all the 

 while. Twenty or more pairs at a time were thus engaged. Indeed, the 

 water was covered with Cormorants, and, had I chosen, I might have 

 shot several of them. I now advanced slowly towards them, when they 

 stared at me as you might stare at a goblin, and began to splash the 

 water with their wings, many diving. On my proceeding they all dis- 

 persed, either plunging beneath or flying off, and making rapidly to- 

 wards the mouth of the inlet. Only a few nests were on the mangroves, 

 and I looked upon the spot as analogous to the tournament grounds of 

 the Pinnated Grouse, although no battles took place in my presence. A 

 few beautiful Herons were sitting peaceably on their nests, the musquitoes 

 were very abundant, large ugly blue land-crabs crawled among the man- 

 groves, hurrying towards their retreats, and I retired, as I had arrived, 

 in perfect silence. While proceeding I could not help remarking the in- 



