224 The Torture of the Fish-Hawk. [| March, 
between the keys and entering the channels of the bays play havoc 
with the lesser tribes. These are devoured in great quantities, 
and the killed and wounded which escape the maw of their fierce 
enemy can be seen stranded on the flats at low tide. 
All this teeming life goes on in a climate of surpassing loveli- 
ness. Frost is a rarity; ice unknown; day succeeding day of 
delightful blandness. Extreme heat is not experienced, and 
storms worthy of the name very rare. The soil of the lower 
peninsula is pure sand as sterile as Sahara. The vegetation is 
prolific in air plants, semi-tropical bushes and stunted growths, 
and a perpetual verdure is everywhere. But there is nothing in 
it all that a man can live on, and hence the population is limited 
to the sporadic migrations of excursionists and invalids, and a few 
“crackers,” always hungry, and seeking something capable of 
being devoured. 
This combination of circumstances forms a splendid environ- 
ment for such birds as can in any way subsist on a fish diet, and 
what might be expectcd is what is found. Birds with legs long 
enough to wade on the flats; those which have inherited the 
expertness of a swimming-school adept and can dive with ability, 
and those which can subsist on the carcases of unfortunates, have 
here everything pretty much to suit them. Long lines of pelicans 
can be seen on every hand, with that grandmotherly air of supreme 
contentment arising from a continuously satisfactory cuisine. 
Cranes of all lengths of legs and necks, stalk about, hastily gob- 
bling their prey. The Carrion-eating vultures are always present 
enjoying the incoming breeze by resting in it on motionless wings, 
or wheeling about on the lookout for subsistence. 
But the birds which particularly interest us are the fish-hawks, 
also dependent, like the others, on the life found in the tepid waters. 
These birds are arboreal in their habits, nesting in the tops of the 
pine trees and rarely resting on the ground. They fish for the 
most part in the creeks and secluded inlets, hovering over the 
waters and suddenly capturing their victim by diving upon it. 
_ But they sometimes come over the open waters of the bays, and 
when the keys are covered with trees, over the gulf, to find their 
_ food. On first acquaintance their actions seemed inexplicable. I 
Ss could not account for their eccentric ways. While in the hidden 
_ places of the creeks they utter no cry, and seem to be efficient 
masters of the craft, but in the open they vacillate painfully- 
