. Wild wings; adventures of a camera-hunter among the larger wild birds of North America on sea and land . umber of hopefulsnap-shots to my credit. Then we landed on the northern side,running the boat up into a sort of little bayou. Over usarched the tangled branches of the mangroves, w^hich grewout into the water from the low, muddy shore. Every stepwas attended with alarm and confusion. The trees, not overabout thirty feet high anywhere, were filled with nests inalmost every crotch. The owners scrambled away, squawk-ing in their fright, — Louisiana Herons, White Ibises, andAnhingas, at this
. Wild wings; adventures of a camera-hunter among the larger wild birds of North America on sea and land . umber of hopefulsnap-shots to my credit. Then we landed on the northern side,running the boat up into a sort of little bayou. Over usarched the tangled branches of the mangroves, w^hich grewout into the water from the low, muddy shore. Every stepwas attended with alarm and confusion. The trees, not overabout thirty feet high anywhere, were filled with nests inalmost every crotch. The owners scrambled away, squawk-ing in their fright, — Louisiana Herons, White Ibises, andAnhingas, at this point. Young herons seemed to be every-where, pretty well grown, and were climbing and flutteringfrom branch to branch. The first nest that I especially noticed, close to the boat,and only ten feet above the water, held four young Anhingas,perhaps half-grown, clad in suits of buff-colored down, withsome dark feathers sprouting on the wings. It was a finesubject for the camera, and I proceeded to climb a neighbor-ing tree. As I did so, one of the youngsters dropped head- THE GREAT CUTHBERT ROOKERY 69. YOUNG ANHINGAS. THE COVETED OPPORTUNITY long- to the water beneath, and disappeared. I could seeit swimming off below the surface. Another climbed out ofthe nest among the branches. But the other two stayedand let me drive my screw-bolt into a limb, and set upthe camera. One bird kept perfectly still, but the otherexpended its energy in darting its neck back and forth atme in serpent fashion, and without cessation, an annoying 70 WILD WINGS action, as the nest was shaded, and required an exposure ofat least a second, even with wdde-open lens. It was quitea while before I secured the coveted opportunity, and couldproceed to photograph another brood of young Anhingasjust beyond. A few steps brought us to the west side of the island, wherethe White Ibises were nesting by hundreds in an area ofrather low mangroves growing out of the water. Everymovement on our part caused an uproar o
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherb, booksubjectbirds
