20 
Scott on Birds observed in Florida. 
At Panasofkee Lake, one of the most numerous and conspic- 
uous species was the Courlan or Crying Bird (Aramus pictus ') , 
where its principal food seemed to be the species of snail on which 
the Everglade Kite preyed, but I did not observe this species at 
the mouth of the Withlacoochee River and it is unknown to the 
hunters about Clearwater. There are numerous fresh-water 
lakes and ponds in the country about Clearwater, notably among 
which is Lake Butler, a very considerable sheet of water, but 
frequent visits to such places confirm me in the belief that the 
Courlan does not obtain in this region now. It is very rapidly 
becoming exterminated where it was once so abundant. While 
travelling on the Oclawaha in the winter of 1875-76 I saw it in 
countless numbers, but going over the same ground in the winter 
of 1879-80 I observed less than ten individuals. 
At Clearwater and just south of it, and particularly at points 
on Old Tampa Bay, I found the Reddish Egret ( Ardea rufa ) 
abundant. While most common in the dark plumage, many 
were noted and some obtained in the white plumage, the so- 
called Ardea fiealii. They began breeding in March and were 
breeding commonly in April, Mr. Devereux obtaining numerous 
sets of their eggs, varying from four to six in number. This gen- 
tleman found young in both plumages in the same nest where 
the parents were both blue birds. 
I was struck during the early part of the breeding season, with 
the coloration about the bill and face in some of the Herons, and 
not finding descriptions of the same conditions I append the 
following: Ardea ccerulea. In this species, in both plumages, 
I have, in a very large series collected at the three points visited, 
noted that the iris is light straw color. But a series of twelve 
individuals collected at Clearwater in a little lake where they had 
just begun to breed, the date being 20th March, 1880, the iris 
was deep lead color and in one case brown or hazel. These are 
the only individuals of this species that I have taken at just this 
period, viz., at the beginning of the breeding season, but this is 
apparently the coloration of the part in question at that season. 
On March 15, at the lower end of Old Tampa Bay, I made 
the following notes with regard to the coloration of the lores, 
face, and eyes of the Louisiana Heron {Ardea leucogastra leuco- 
cofrymna) . The notes are from twelve individuals freshly killed, 
and the nesting season had advanced as far as the completion of 
