700 



THE XATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



JOE HOWELL LOOKS IN ON A CARACARA S NEST 



It is a difficult climb to the top of a cabbage palm, but the investiKator negotiated the smooth 

 bark, the rough crown, and the sharp fans to get a glimpse of the young birds about ready to leave 

 home (pp. 702-,5). He discovered that they had been banded, each bearing a number recorded by 

 the Bureau of Biological Survey at Washington, D. C. A vulturelike bird of prey, Audubon's 

 caracara captures snakes, lizards, and other animals, or joins buzzards feeding on carrion. 



bird's amazement when he flew at the song 

 but could find no bird on which to vent his 

 wrath (page 696) . 



In Florida we were unsuccessful in our 

 search for the ivory-billed woodpecker. Tf 

 it still occurs in this part of its former range, 

 it will take keener ears or luckier observers 

 than we to find it. 



So the last of March we started for 

 Louisiana, where Dr. T. Gilbert Pearson 

 had reported the finding of an ivorybill by 

 Alason D. Spencer near the Tensas River 

 in 1932. 



On our way we stopped at Beach ton, 

 Georgia, at the charming home of Herbert 



Stoddard, the great authority on the bob- 

 white. He had arranged with Gol. L. S. 

 Thompson to bait up a flock of wild turkeys 

 on a chufa patch in a clearing on his plan- 

 tation so that we could secure motion pic- 

 tures and voice recordings of these shy, 

 absohiteh' feral birds, uncontaminated by 

 any domestic blood.* 



One familiar only with domestic turkeys 

 little realizes the wariness of these grand 

 old birds, or the stealth necessary to get 

 within camera distance. 



* See "Game Birds of Prairie, Forest, and Tun- 

 dra," by .\lexandcr Welmore, N.\tuin.^l Geo- 

 graphic Magazine, October, 1935. 



