Brewster on Florida Birds . 
4 1 
A great change too was apparent in the abundance and variety 
of animal life. Butterflies floated about the openings, the reeds 
were tipped with slender dragon-flies and on a half-submerged 
log where the sun rested lay a long line of turtles, many of them 
of great size and brilliant coloring. Dozens of alligators were in 
sight, some floating in mid-stream, others basking along the shores 
while one hugh fellow monopolized a mud bank near at hand and 
turned his sunken eye on us with an expression of fierce but 
sleepy curiosity. 
Birds of various species, especially aquatic kinds, were in great 
abundance. With every turn of the stream Wood Ducks and 
Hooded Mergansers rose before our boat or led their broods of 
ducklings among the water plants while an occasional Florida Gal- 
linule peeped out from behind a lily leaf, then quietly drew back 
or perhaps pattered off, half running, half flying over the surface. 
Herons of several species were continually in sight. Now five 
or six Blue Egrets ( Ardea coerulea ) flapped heavily from the 
sedge and alighted on the surrounding trees, while a graceful 
Louisiana Heron, too intent on its morning meal to notice our 
approach, stalked through the shallows. Or a tall White Egret 
appeared on a distant point, its erect form and snowy plumage 
contrasting finely with the dark back-ground. 
The Florida Cormorants and their curious relatives, the Water 
Turkies {Plotus anhinga) , were also among the characteristic 
birds. The latter species interested me greatly. We usually saw 
them in the upper branches of the trees where they sat well out 
over the stream and craned their long, slender necks to obtain a 
better view of us. Sometimes one was perched on a snag not 
more than a yard or two above the water, intently watching the 
surface like a Kingfisher. But as we drew nearer it would drop 
into the river and just showing its snake-like head for a moment 
would sink again and be seen no more. 
Woodpeckers were, as a rule, less numerous here than among 
the cypresses, but there were numbers of the Pileated and Red- 
bellied species, and we saw a single pair of the rare Ivory- 
bills. The latter swept* across the stream, the male leading, and 
alighted against the trunk of a palmetto. They were very shy, 
restlessly swinging from tree to tree, and taking good care to keep 
beyond gun-range. Their motions were characterized by great 
energy and animation and the sound of their powerful blows on the 
