NATURE STUDY IN SCHOOLS. 23 5 



water some distance back into th? interior. Borden g tie ( oca-nut walk 

 as it is called, is a growth of trees avemging seme twenty feet high. Tl ey 

 are mainly sea grapes which, although further north, in thi Hal amas < ud 

 among the Florida keys, is nothing but a trailing shiub, or at best, oi y 

 reaches the height of some ten feet, here becemts quite a large tiee, 1 avii g 

 long branches and a wide, flat top. 



These trees, beginning about four hur.dieds yards east of tie hit loin? 

 in the line, and extending to the mangrove su amp were occupied as a breed- 

 ing ground by Cory's gannets. The nests were very in men us, L\t or b x 

 being placed in each tree. As this locality hi.d been cccnj.icd as a ret-tiig 

 site for many years, a large number of the trees had been killed by the 

 droppings of the birds, and on the long, naked branches v.ere pcr< htd the 1 

 ands of garnets, sitting side by sid 3 ii a ro v ; a motle array, cj s st ij o all 

 stages of plumage, from the newly fledged, wholly tlaik brown )cing. tc \± . 

 creamy dress of the perfect adult. Almost e^ery r.est was teiiiai.tcd I, a a 

 young bird, usually well grown, clad in a beautiful garment of long, pure 

 white down, from which protruded the daik brown wings and tail, while the 

 air was filled with hundreds of birds departing and returning frcm fishing ex- 

 cursions, all giving utterance as they came and went, to harch cries ll ; t 

 were answered by those perching, consequently the j lace was constantly u- 

 sonant with sound. 



The most remarkable thing about this gannetry was its situation in such 

 close proximity, not only to the houses, but to the cocoa-nut grove in whir h 

 the inhabitants were constantly at work, for the birds could have retreated t > 

 the fastnesses of the mangrove swamp, wheie they could have been perfect, y 

 secure from intrusion. The people, however, raiely disturbed the birds, ; t 

 most taking only a few eggs at the beginning of the nesting season for ccok- 

 ing. I was informed that the gannets had formerly occupied a tmall Key, 

 or islet, containing about three acres of land, that lay just oppesite the gan- 

 netry as I found it, a few hundred yards from the shore ; but this spot had 

 been burned over some thirty years prior to my visit, when the birds a!l re- 

 moved to the section where I found them. Since that time the birds had 

 steadily increased in numbers and had considerably extended their breeding 

 range. The presence of the gannets was regardrd favorably, as they not on 1 }- 

 killed the trees, thereby opening sections in which the cocca-nuts could be 

 planted, but also greatly enriched the soil. 



The nests were rude structures, not unlike those of herons, and in most 

 cases contained a single young bird, never more, and rarely a single egg, and 

 this egg, whether it contained an embryo or was spoiled, was jealously gur Ti- 

 ed by one of the parents, for both sexes sat on the eggs. 



