8 



NATUBAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



grown, were taken from the nests in 

 February, while I saw two nearly full 

 grown young Pelicans swimming about 

 on March first. On March third two 

 Sandhill Crane's eggs were taken which 

 were about to hatch. The nest was 

 placed on the ground and was com- 

 posed of coarse weeds and very loosely 

 put together. 



There are great numbers of Gulls and 

 Terns here, but as I am from an inter- 

 ior section of the North these birds can- 

 not all be identified by me. The Amer- 

 ican Herring, Ring-billed and Bona- 

 partes' Gulls and the Royal, Least, Black 

 and Common Terns were seen. 



Cormorants and Pelicans are to be 

 seen everywhei-e in the neighborhood 

 of salt water, while the Darter or Water 

 Turkey (Anhinga) is found both in the 

 lagoons as well as on the fresh water. 

 One collector could take a thousand 

 Brown Pelican's eggs in a very short 

 time. The main trouble in collecting 

 them is in the blowing, which is not a 

 small undertaking, and the trouble of 

 transporting so bulky a load. 



Plume birds are scarce and getting 

 scarcer. There are still plenty of 

 White and Snowy Herons but they are 

 very shy. I have seen flocks of these 

 persecuted birds rise when we came in 

 sight of them. In a three months trip 

 I have failed to see a single Roseate 

 Spoonbill. They are becoming rare ex- 

 cepting in the wilder parts of the inter- 

 ior. 



At Jupiter I met Billy Bowlegs, a di- 

 rect descendant, son or grandson of the 

 historically celebrated Seminole of the 

 same name. Billy was selling Heron's 

 plumes to the dear ladies, who are ever 

 ready buyers. Around his head were 

 wrapped one or two small shawls, a lot 

 of ingrain carpet and a variety of other 

 material. The whole turban be ng 

 quite seven inches high and fully twelve 

 inches in diameter, and was held to- 

 gether Jby a big shining band. The 

 headgear must have weighed fully six 

 or seven pounds, and it was surmount- 

 ed by a White Heron's plume. His 

 ears had large rings in them and for 

 neck-wear he had six differently color- 

 ed gaudy handkerchiefs surmounted by 

 a cheap four-in-hand tie. Three shiits, 

 the outer one being shortest, in order 

 to show the colors below, and none of 

 them too long, constituted his sole body 

 wear. 



Billy was right in style with the lad- 

 ies, as he had the sleeves of the outer 

 gingham shirt puffed, puckered and 

 tucked up to beat all. Bnt though so 

 elaborately dressed above, I must rec- 

 ord that Billy Bowlegs was clothed 

 with very scanty dressed leather leg- 

 gings which but partially concealed his 

 bow (?) legs. 



Of the Rail family I have met with 

 the Sora and American_Coot only. The 



Purple Galliuule is not common that I 

 can learn, but I expect to meet with it 

 in the interior. The habits of the Turn- 

 stone interested me and the peculiar 

 nays of this pleasing biid were subject 

 for much observation. The Florida 

 Bob-white is slightly smaller and of a 

 darker color than its northern relative. 

 In fact this rule generally obtains, that 

 southern varieties of birds and mam- 

 mals are smaller than those of further 

 north. Do not understand me as giv- 

 ing this as a fixed rule, for I am well 

 aware that the Fox Squirrel here is a 

 half larger than the northern represen- 

 tative. However the Gray Squirrel and 

 Deer are much less in size here than at 

 the north. 



Wild Turkeys are brought into the 

 little settlements by the white and Sem- 

 inole hunters every clay, as is also a 

 plenty of venison and many other kinds 

 of game and a great variety of fish. 

 At one place at which I stopped we 

 caught fourteen kinds of fishes ami all 

 of them were good for food. The fish- 

 ing resources of Florida are unlimited, 

 and the pleasure which an angling 

 tourist may secure from a winter in the 

 state is great. 



One of the most interesting birds in the 

 south, is that unassuming, unsuspicious, 

 loveable little creature, the Ground 

 Dove. The first time I ever saw it I 

 was pleased with its ways and after an 

 acquaintance of several years I am still 

 more favorably impressed by its de- 

 mure manners. It nests here abun- 

 dantly, laying two small white eggs of 

 the regulation Pigeon shape. The 

 Mourning Dove is also here but is rare 

 compared to the Ground Dove in quart- 

 ers that I have visited. 



There are Turkey Buzzards every- 

 where, and it is rare to look about the 

 heavens without seeing from one to a 

 score of birds. Black Vultures are seen 

 only in certaiu quarters and are un- 

 known in some sections. When these 

 birds take possession of a locality, the 

 Turkey Buzzards are driven away and 

 kept away. If any of your subscribers 

 can furnish authentic notes on this sub- 

 ject I should be glad to hear. 



The Marsh Harrier is here and is to 

 be seen sailing low over the Savannas. 

 The Red-tailed and Red-shouldered 

 Hawks are found, the latter, a Florida 

 variety, nesting plentifully. One nest 

 was in a Palmetto and only twenty-two 

 feet from the ground. This Hawk is 

 as noisy here as at the north and its 

 nest can be easily found. I saw a pair 

 of Swallow-tailed Kites sweeping about 

 in the air. The evolutions are remark- 

 ably graceful and yet combining dash 

 and rapidity in their movements. There 

 are any quantity of Bald Eagles in this 

 state and they are pleasing and power- 

 ful flyers. It is difficult to realize how 

 swiftly t an Eagle is flying unless 0 ne is 



close by when a dash is made. Sparrow 

 Hawks are not rare and I met with one 

 Duck H.wk. Two Owls, the Florida 

 Barred and Barn Owl are the only ones 

 I have met with as yet. The latter is 

 called the "Monkey-faced Owl" here. 



Of the Woodpeckers I have only met 

 with three on this trip, namely the Red- 

 bellied, Flicker and Piliated,all of which 

 inhabit the palmetto scrub thickets, 

 however the latter is not as wild as it 

 generally is at the North and I have 

 repeatedly worked quite close without 

 alarming it. 



The Chuck- wills-widow is common 

 here and tunes up generally on its arrival 

 from further South about the middle of 

 March. It is called the Whip-poor-will 

 by all settlers who have moved here 

 from the North The notes certainly 

 do have the same kind of a piercing 

 chuckle to them, yet to an educated ear 

 the difference is marked. 



Our common Pewee is here, also the 

 Crow and Blue Jay, though the two lat- 

 ter are now acknowledged to be varie- 

 ties. There is also the Florida Jay, 

 which is commonly known here as the 

 "Scrub Jaj" from its preference for 

 thickets. 



There are many Crackles here; and 

 reasoning that a bird should become a 

 variety when its notes are different from 

 another species or race, then the Florida 

 Grackle certainly is entitled to distinc- 

 tion. For the stridulous notes of this 

 Blackbird are entirely different from 

 the Bronzed Gra?kle's efforts. 



This letter is already too long, and 

 with remarks on a few well-known spec- 

 ies I will close. 



The Carolina Wren is a pleasing bird. 

 It sings plaintively and in a variety of 

 strains, and its notes can be compared 

 with those of the Robin. The Yellow- 

 rumped Warblers and Cardinals are 

 ubiquitious here in winter, and with 

 the Mockingbirds are the life of the 

 glades. There are White-bellied Swal- 

 lows in myriads. Among the Warblers 

 are the Chestnut-sided, Yellow-throat- 

 ed, Prairie and Oven-bird. 



Perhaps this letter will fail to please 

 many of your readers as it does not re- 

 cord the taking of eggs, but it must be 

 remembered that the season has really 

 not opened fairly. Very few species 

 besides the Heron's, Pelicans and other 

 water birds, and Hawks have begun to 

 nest at the time this is written. 



There is a pleasure in sailing about, 

 even if one cannot take many rare eggs. 

 I shall always remember my trips on 

 the Indian, Sebastian and Loxahatchie 

 rivers, and the connecting lagoons as 

 the most agreeable days spent in Flori- 

 da among the birds. 



I would like to describe our boat and 

 how we sail, fish, eat and sleep, and a 

 hundred features of a cruise, but this 

 will be postponed. 



