WILDLIFE OF THE ATLANTIC COAST SALT MARSHES 25 



and may be seen in summer as far north as South Carolina. These 

 birds characteristically fly in files, alternately flapping and gliding. 

 When fishing, the birds plunge — almost, it would seem, awkwardly 

 fall — into the water when a nsh is spied near the surface. Brown 

 pelicans subsist very largly on menhaden, thread herring, and other 

 fishes not used for human food. Of the food fishes they probably 

 take more mullets than any other kind. 



The white ibis (Guam alba) (24 to 27 inches long), an almost 

 entirely white bird, but with black wing tips, and a long, down- 

 curved, reddish bill, breeds from South Carolina, and winters from 

 Florida, south. It is usually seen in flocks and because of the curved 

 bill is often called curlew, a term preceded by such modifiers as 

 white or Spanish. The wood ibis (Mycteria americana), a much 

 larger bird (35 to 37 inches long), may be seen both winter and 

 summer from South Carolina southward. This bird also is mostly 

 white, but the flight feathers and tail are dark, and the head and 

 upper neck are unf eathered and scaly. The ibises differ from herons 

 in flying with the neck as well as the legs stretched out, 



WARBLERS AND SWALLOWS 



Two small land birds are likely to be common enough in winter 

 near or in southern salt marshes to attract attention. One, the 

 myrtle warbler (Dendroica coronata), a little less than 6 inches long, 

 is chiefly bluish gray above and white below, streaked with black, 

 and with the crown, the rump, and a spot on each side of the breast, 

 yellow. These attractive little birds winter regularly from New 

 Jersey (casually from New England) south and sometimes swarm 

 near the coast from the Carolinas southward. They frequently utter 

 a characteristic and rather loud tchip. The myrtle warbler feeds to 

 a considerable extent on the fruits of the bayberry or waxmyrtle, a 

 habit alluded to in the standard vernacular name. This is an un- 

 usual habit for warblers, a highly insectivorous group of birds, but 

 it enables the myrtle warbler to winter farther north than any of its 

 relatives. 



A remark to the same purport is in order relative to the tree 

 swallow (Iridoprocne bicolor) , and the berry -eating habit seems even 

 more remarkable in its case. The tree swallow is glossy bluish-green 

 above and wdiite below ; like others of its tribe it goes much in com- 

 panies and is expert in flight. It is seen in winter regularly as far 

 north as North Carolina and occasionally to New Jersey. 



Both the warbler and the swallow consume insects whenever they 

 are available and feed chiefly on them during the warmer months, 

 as do all their kin. Birds of these families are legally protected 

 throughout the Union. 



OTHER WILDLIFE 



Birds are a more prominent element of the wildlife of marshes 

 than are some other groups, no doubt because of the ease with which 

 they come and go — they do not have to stay but are free to visit. 

 Temporarily frequenting a salt marsh is something very different 

 from living there permanently. To reside there requires close 

 adaptation ; and, as we have seen, relatively few birds are fitted for 



