In the Cape Sable Wilderness 163 
—the American representative of that 
much reputed bird of the Orient, and, 
like it, our bird is also an imposing crea 
ture, standing nearly as high as a man, and 
clad in spotless white, save for the black 
extremities of the wings. The stork is 
apt to nest high; in the interior of 
Florida I have found them nesting more 
than a hundred feet from the ground, in 
inaccessible security. Here it was de 
lightful to see them on the tops of low 
mangroves, evidently breeding. And so it 
proved. The great birds left when we 
were at quite a distance, and circled far 
off over the swamp, together with a va- 
grant crew of buzzards. 
As we landed on the muddy islet densely 
overgrown with red mangroves, we heard 
the hoarse voices of young birds beyond, 
that in almost human tones seemed to 
reiterate, “Get out, get out.”’ It was not 
easy to transport the cameras over the 
treacherous tract full of deceitful mud- 
holes, but after a struggle I arrived under 
the nests, whitewashed and _ stinking. 
Very soon I was overlooking them. There 
ge 
at 
a a 
were eighteen, all told, within an area of 
a few rods, and each contained two or 
three young birds, pure white in color, 
about the size of large pullets, with heavy 
looking bills. It was the first time in my 
life that I had looked into a stork’s nest, 
and happy was I in the blazing Florida 
sun, upon the mangrove-tops. 
To photograph these stork houses, 
which were merely large platforms of 
sticks, proved to be a problem indeed. 
Built some fifteen feet from the ground, 
upon the topmost twigs of very slender 
trees, almost bushes, it was hard enough 
to get one’s head above them, to say noth 
ing of the camera; and, of course, there 
was nothing on which to fasten the instru- 
ment. Finally I selected the most con- 
venient trees, tied several of them together 
with cord, and had the guide hold them 
up as I mounted and stood gingerly on the 
top, ov erlooking the nests, but with noth- 
ing to hold on to. With no less care | 
hoisted up my ten-pound 5x7 camera, 
and, thanks to the good light, was able to 
make several snap-shot pictures. This 
White Ibises. 
