Scott on Birds observed in Florida. 1 7 
ient tree or stub rises out of the saw-grass the ground is literally 
heaped with the empty shells of these unfortunate snails. The 
birds were especially numerous throughout the month of March 
but had not, I think, nested before my departure, March 25, as 
they were still associated in flocks or companies. 
During January and February, 1876, I many times noted indi- 
viduals of the Mississippi Kite ( Ictinia mississippiensis) , but 
as they were very wary I was unable to obtain specimens. The 
Swallow-tailed Kite ( Nauclenis furcatus ) I found common at 
Panasofkee Lake during the last, week of February and through- 
out March. These three species, met with so commonly at 
the point indicated, I did not even see on the coast, though cer- 
tain regions visited some ten miles inland seemed admirably 
adapted for at least the two latter. R. sociabilis , it maybe well 
to remark, impresses me as eminently an aquatic species. I 
found it always in the immediate vicinity of the lake and gener- 
ally most common about certain bays where the water was shal- 
low and the snails particularly abundant. Although there were 
extensive marshes along the river, and although at points where 
it widened out the water was shallow and the snails present 
(at a point hardly two miles from the lake) , this species was 
never there observed by me hunting over the land at any point, 
nor even along the river. 
The Duck Hawk ( Falco peregrinus') was a rather common 
species during the first two months of my stay at Panasofkee 
Lake and was noted, though not so commonly, in March. The 
last observation on this species was on March 24, when a pair 
were seen. As observed here, this Hawk preyed almost ex- 
clusively on the Coot ( Fulica americana ) which occurred in 
enormous flocks on both lake and river. 
At all three points I found the White-headed Eagle ( Haliaetus 
lucocephalus ) a common bird and this was particularly the case 
on the coast. A pair at the mouth of the Withlacoochee River 
began to repair an old nest early in November, 1879, and must 
have laid early in December, as the young were obtained almost 
fully fledged the 2 2d of January. At Clearwater Harbor two 
sets, one of two and one of three almost fully fledged young, were 
obtained February 5 and 6. Four Eagle’s nests were in sight 
from the house where I stayed at this place, within the radius of a 
mile and a half, all of them inhabited. In the immediate neigh- 
