a 
In the Cape Sable Wilderness 167 
ter of a mile wide. How we ever managed 
to flounder across, dragging one another 
out of holes, I hardly know. But we 
reached, at length, the swampy tract of 
woods into which returning ibises, herons 
and egrets were dropping, and from which 
we could hear a confused murmur of 
distant squawking. 
[ shall never forget the sight which 
greeted me as I emerged from the slough 
and came through the woods to the edge 
of one of the impassable muddy bayous, 
left the nests. The woods were fairly 
alive with them, and droves raced over the 
ground under the mangroves, or climbed 
among the branches in all directions. 
Next in abundance was the little Lou 
isiana heron, the common blue-gray species 
with white under-parts, whose young were 
in about the same condition as the young 
ibises, and mingled with them. Across 
the bayou we could hear, but not see, the 
large, graceful snow-white American egrets 
and their young. As with the peacock, 
In the Mangrove Swamp. 
about thirty feet wide, bordered by thick- 
ets of mangroves. The trees were fairly 
alive with splendid great birds and their 
half-grown young. The most abundant 
was the white ibis, a fine creature, snow- 
white, with black wing-tips and brilliant 
red legs and bills, both long, the latter 
down-curved. They are locally called 
‘white curlews,’’ and are esteemed one 
of the best food-birds of the region. ‘Their 
young are of a blackish-gray color, with 
white on the rump, and were now in the 
stage when, though unable to fly, they had 
beauty of form and plumage is not matched 
with sweetness of song, and this lovely 
dream of a bird speaks in harshest rattling 
grunts. Much the same is true of the ele- 
gant little snowy heron, a few of which we 
could see dropping into the swamp beyond 
our muddy Jordan. ‘These last two spe- 
cies are the wearers of the so-called 
“aigrette” plumes, the fatal ornament 
which has led almost to their extermina 
tion. 
But what made me thrill with special 
excitement was the sight of half a dozen 
