112 IN LOIVER FLORIDA WILDS 



grubbing up and loading them on the boats. Im- 

 mense numbers of a large white bird in the lake 

 continually uttered a harsh croaking call, — prob- 

 ably the white ibis {Gaura alba). 



This locality is one of the last resorts of some of 

 our most beautiful and interesting wading birds. 

 Here in days gone by resorted vast numbers of 

 gorgeous flamingos, scarlet ibises, roseate spoon- 

 bills, and roseate terns. This was one of the chief 

 breeding places of the ethereally beautiful egret 

 {Herodias egretta) and the even more perfect 

 snowy heron {Egretta candidissima). Owing to 

 womatfs vanity and man's greed they are now 

 well-nigh exterminated. The men who raid these 

 heronries are toughs and outlaws, and there is not 

 one of them to-day who does not gloat with sat- 

 isfaction over the foul murder of the faithful 

 game warden, Warren Bradley, who was shot 

 down by their gang while trying to preserve these 

 birds. 



This entire region (which is of little value for 

 anything else) should be set apart by the federal 

 government as a great bird reservation, but even 

 then it would be difficult enough to protect the 

 birds within it, for the same men who killed 



