. Birds of America;. Birds -- North America. SPOONBILLS, IBISES, STORKS 179 Uf all the various species of Storks known to inhabit the earth, only two are found in North America. Une of these, the Jabiru (Jabini mvctcria) of tropical America, occasionally wanders north to Texas, but the other species, the Wood Ibis, is with us in goodly numbers. They breed in the southern United States, chiefly in Florida. They are gregarious at all times, although now and then small bands wander away from the main flock. I once saw at least five thousand of these birds in a drove feeding on a grassy prairie of
. Birds of America;. Birds -- North America. SPOONBILLS, IBISES, STORKS 179 Uf all the various species of Storks known to inhabit the earth, only two are found in North America. Une of these, the Jabiru (Jabini mvctcria) of tropical America, occasionally wanders north to Texas, but the other species, the Wood Ibis, is with us in goodly numbers. They breed in the southern United States, chiefly in Florida. They are gregarious at all times, although now and then small bands wander away from the main flock. I once saw at least five thousand of these birds in a drove feeding on a grassy prairie of central Florida. When dis- turbed by the report of a gun they arose, a vast white and black mass, and the roar of their wings coming across the lake resembled nothing so much as the rumbling of distant thunder. Thev breed in colonies nimibering hundreds or thousand of pairs, and they always select the tallest trees for nesting sites. For several years the Audubon Society has been guarding a colony in " Big Cypress " swamp of south Florida. In the rookery nearly every tree has its nest and some of the cypresses with wide-spreading limbs hold six or eight of them. This colony occupies an area of from two hundred to five hundred yards wide and about five miles in length. Here, as in other rookeries, Fish Crows are a great scourge. All day a stream of Crows can be seen flving from the pine woods to the swam]), or re- turning with eggs stuck on the end of their bills. I had the opjiortunitv to witness the rather odd manner in which these birds sometimes get their prey. The water was low at this season and in the pine flats various ponds, which ordinarily cover many acres, were partially or entirely dried up. One of these, now reduced to a length of about one hundred feet and with a width ])er- haps half as great, contained many small fish crowded together. Thirty-seven Wood Ibises had taken possession of this pool and seemed to be scratching the bottom, evidently for the
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Keywords: ., bookauthorpearsont, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookyear1923
