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and Mrs. Charles Cooper of Woodstock, N. Y., to whom I am indebted 
for the pictures accompanying these notes. This morning at breakfast 
when he objected to his milk, his older sister wisely explained that there 
was nothing wrong with it and that he should have faith in its being 
good and wholesome. With faith, she told him, anything could be accom- 
plished, even to walking on the water. Whereupon Peter went down to 
the boat house and stepped off into seven feet of water. Although he had 
not compromised by removing any of his clothing, he promptly went down 
and had to swim to the ladder. He was noncommital about “the episode, 
so I am not quite sure whether he was disillusioned or regarded it as 
proof that his sister Nancy was wrong. 
Wednesday, April 14. — Nearly every day I spend some time on the 
water tower, from where I watch bird life over all of this island and 
parts of others nearby. My main interest today was a pair of pileated 
woodpeckers which I believe were preparing to nest, and how I should 
like to have a close-up picture of the eagles’ nest as I saw it through 
my binoculars! The two young birds were standing on the nest with the 
parents on a limb at either side and the whole family facing me. 
Along the shore of the deep coves I observed large numbers of herons 
with the little blues predominating. By making several counts, I verified 
what seemed apparent, that well over half of these are in the immature 
white plumage. The reasons for this condition and its implications should 
make an interesting subject for investigation and discussion in a bird club. 
When I left the water tower I saw a cuckoo. Casually, I looked to 
see whether it was the yellow or black-billed species. My good fortune 
was undeserved because of my unmethodic and careless observation, but to 
my great surprise I saw that the under parts were a light cinnamon color, 
and I added the Maynard’s cuckoo to my life list. 
Thursday, April 15. — Larry had to go over to Bokelia in the Sand 
Spur for bottled gas and I tagged along. This little settlement is on 
the northern tip of Pine Island, which is close to the mainland and 
extends southward from Charlotte Harbor to the mouth of the Caloosa- 
hatchee River. I had thought this should be an excellent point to observe 
migrant warblers, but, with the exception of a single prothonotary, I saw 
only prairie and yellow or western palm warblers. 
The gray kingbird, which was new to me, was common, as was also 
the black-whiskered vireo. The latter is similar to the red-eyed vireo, 
but has blackish streaks at the sides of the throat, which give the bird 
its name. It was singing in the mangroves everywhere I went. 
Because of the intensity of the sunshine here, colors often appear 
deceptive. When we were leaving Bokelia, I was mistaken in thinking 
a single file of three brown pelicans were the white species. This had 
happened several times in the past, on each occasion the bright sunlight 
making the birds appear white for several seconds until the angle of 
reflection had changed. 
One day last week I was deceived by a similar experience that was 
really dramatic. Two adjoining channel markers had been occupied by a 
