Roseate Spoonbill. i8^ 



ROSEATE SPOONBILL. 



This beautiful bird is very rare in this section, Jefferson County, 

 Texas. It is only found in the wildest and most uninhabited 

 marshes. A few, however, are to be found in such places in most 

 of Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana. 



We saw the Spoonbill for the first time on April 26th, 1885. 

 We were then in Southwestern Louisiana. We had ascended 

 about 40 miles, a small stream of water called "Black Bayou." 

 This stream flows through a low, flat county, and along the more 

 than fifty miles of its meandering there is not a house, save a few 

 "shanties" near its mouth. The day of the 23d, we had spent in 

 sailing up this stream. Acre after acre of this low, flat land spread 

 out, as far as the eye could reach, on both sides of the "Bayou," 

 destitute of a single human inhabitant or human domicile. In 

 such a lonely place we camped on that night. The next morning, 

 as we awoke, a most beautiful sight presented itself. The sun was 

 just rising, and as it appeared over the tall green cane, which was 

 nodding silently to a gentle breeze, it was beautiful beyond de- 

 scription. As we were standing admiring these beauties of nature, 

 our eyes fell upon an island in this sea of cane, which was covered 

 with, what seemed to be, large red and white flowers, of many 

 varied hues. On closer examination, these flowers proved them- 

 selves to be birds which as yet had not left their roost. As these 

 were about a half mile distant, across a muddy marsh covered with 

 an impenetrable growth of cane, we could not go over land to 

 them. 



Judging from our knowledge of the county, that the birds were 

 in trees, near the bank of some small "bayou," tributary to the 

 main "Bayou," we set out in search of such a stream. After sev- 

 eral hours work we reached the "roost." It was about 9 o'clock 

 A. M., and as yet the birds were resting quietly. When we were 

 within a few hundred yards of them, they flew Irom the trees and 

 circled around until they reached a great height, and then flew 

 away. Their color, bill and squeaking of the wings, told us that 

 they must be the roseate spoonbill. These birds did not return to 

 their "roost" during the entire day. Making sure that they would 

 return later in the evening, and being determined to secure speci- 

 mens, we stationed ourselves near the "roost," about an hour be- 

 fore sun-down, and waited patiently for them to return. It was 

 late in the night before we returned to our boat, luUy convinced 

 that the "roost" had been abandoned. 



What was our surprise the next morning on rising, to find that 

 the spoonbills had returned and were occupying their old "roost" 

 again. We again tried to secure specimens of these birds, but 

 met with the same success as had greeted us the day before. 



We remained several days in that locality, and made repeated 

 efforts to secure specimens, but were compelled to return home 

 without a single spoonbill. 



