. Birds of America;. Birds -- North America. Nis;jc^ Drawing by Henry iiiuiatua WHITE reiS (! nat. size) A flock returning to their nests at evening is a pretty sight tains an island which has long been the breeding place of innumeraljle water-birds. Those years when the water is not too high to cover their food White Ibises to the number of about nine thousand pairs come here to breed, as do the Egrets, Herons, and Water Turkeys that are present every season. Their nests are budt in the low alder trees that cover the island and are placed at all heights from one to fifteen feet. They are bulk
. Birds of America;. Birds -- North America. Nis;jc^ Drawing by Henry iiiuiatua WHITE reiS (! nat. size) A flock returning to their nests at evening is a pretty sight tains an island which has long been the breeding place of innumeraljle water-birds. Those years when the water is not too high to cover their food White Ibises to the number of about nine thousand pairs come here to breed, as do the Egrets, Herons, and Water Turkeys that are present every season. Their nests are budt in the low alder trees that cover the island and are placed at all heights from one to fifteen feet. They are bulky and their weight added to that of the heavy birds plays sad havoc with the branches. The eggs are beautifully spotted; the young are crested with black down. At times the trees are so covered with White Ibises that at a distance they appear to be weighted down with ;now. The birds, of course, have their natural ene- mies. This island literally swarms with water moccasins in summer. They take many of the eggs and perhaps some of the newly hatched young. Vultures roost on the island and they devour many young. The most annoying of all the creatures that disturb the Ibises, however, are the Fish Crows. Numbers of them are on the island all day long and the quantities of eggs they consume is astonishing. When the nest is robbed these birds will lay again, and the Crows keep them producing eggs for many weeks. The warden in charge estimated that in the summer of 1913 every female Ibis laid an average of eleven eggs, although four is the normal number for a bird each season. These birds fly in long ranks and make a very pretty sight when towards evening they begin coming in from their feeding grounds which are often many miles away. Low over the water to avoid the wind they come into view, rank after rank as far as the eye can see. With black-tipped wings sweeping up and down with never a pause the birds advance until near the island when they rise in unison and scatter about among
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Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: ., bookauthorpearsont, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookyear1923
