184 



BAHAMA BIRD-LIFE 



Swam rapidly away 



tion of many eggs, but might have resulted in the birds de- 

 serting their homes. Consequently, several hours after 

 entering the blind, Mrs. Chapman, by arrangement, 

 returned ; the birds retreated to the lagoon, and I left my 

 hiding place without their being the wiser. 



Encouraged by this sur- 

 prisingly successful at- 

 tempt to study these wary 

 birds at close range, I de- 

 termined to enter the very 

 heart of the city. Conse- 

 quently, when, at our ap- 

 proach the following morn- 

 ing, the birds left their 

 nests, the blind was hur- 

 riedly moved, from its po- 

 sition at the border of the 

 rookery to a point near its center, where a buttonwood bush 

 afforded it some concealment. 



Nests were now within arm's reach; the blind itself cov- 

 ered an abandoned one. It seemed wholly beyond the 

 bounds of probability that the birds would take their places 

 so near me ; but, as before, the departure of my assistant 

 was the signal to advance. The great red army with clang- 

 ing of horns, again approached, reached, and this time sur- 

 rounded me. I was engulfed in color and clarionings. The 

 wildest imagination could not have conceived of so thrilling 

 an experience. Seated on the deserted nest, I myself seemed 

 to have become a Flamingo. 



The blind, strange to say, aroused no suspicion. AVith- 

 out hesitation and with evident recognition of their home, 

 the splendid creatures reoccnpied their nests. For a time I 

 feared detection. It was impossible to look from the blind 

 in any direction without seeming to meet the glance of a 

 dozen yellow-eyed birds at my threshold. Fortunately, the 

 uproar of their united voices was so great that the various 



