::::::::^ THE MARSHES OF CHAP ALA Is:::::::: 



Three times a beautiful hawk, with under parts 

 and tail of wliite, swung out over us from the willow 

 which we had left, uttering low, wheedling cries and 

 peering down at us, treading the air overhead with 

 vibrating wings. A narrow bar of black stretched 

 across the wide-spread tail-feathers, and we knew that 

 we had seen the Sennett White-tailed Hawk. Oddly 

 enough, the birds in the marshes, large and small, 

 showed absolutely no fear, paying not the slightest 

 attention to the presence or to the cries of the bird of 

 prey. 



We now came to occasional swampy places Avith 

 small patches of open water surrounded by higher 

 ground. Blackbirds, and Cowbirds with red eves, 

 chased grasshoppers and other insects. When an 

 occasional hopper of unusually large size sprang up, 

 a fluttering mass of feathers, scarlet, white, golden, and 

 black would set upon him. But often a low-browed 

 Caracara galloped up, scattering the lesser birds and 

 aj^propriating the remains of the insect for himself. It 

 was amusing to see how these curious birds seized 

 their small prey in the talons of one foot and lifted it 

 toward their beak, nibbling at it from between their 

 toes, like a cockatoo with a piece of bread. 



All these scenes were noted within a few minutes, 

 and then our attention was wholly absorbed by the 

 wading and water-birds. We rode acre after acre with 

 Killdeer and one or two unnamable species of plover 



^- 117 ^ 



