. Wild wings; adventures of a camera-hunter among the larger wild birds of North America on sea and land . I arrived beneath the nests — large platformsof sticks, whitewashed and stinking, about fifteen feet abovemy head, built on the tops of the mangroves. Very soon I wasoverlooking them. There were eighteen, all told, within anarea of a few rods, and each contained two or three youngbirds, pure white in color, about the size of large pullets, withheavy-looking bills. It was the first time in my life that I hadlooked into a storks nest, and happy was I in the blazingFlorida sun upon the mangr
. Wild wings; adventures of a camera-hunter among the larger wild birds of North America on sea and land . I arrived beneath the nests — large platformsof sticks, whitewashed and stinking, about fifteen feet abovemy head, built on the tops of the mangroves. Very soon I wasoverlooking them. There were eighteen, all told, within anarea of a few rods, and each contained two or three youngbirds, pure white in color, about the size of large pullets, withheavy-looking bills. It was the first time in my life that I hadlooked into a storks nest, and happy was I in the blazingFlorida sun upon the mangrove-tops. To photograph these stork homes proved to be a problemindeed. Built upon the topmost twigs of very slender trees, IN THE CAPE SABLE WILDERNESS 45 almost bushes, it was hard enough to get ones head abovethem, to say nothing of a camera, and of course there wasnothing to which to fasten the instrument. Finally I selectedthe most convenient trees, tied several of them together withsome cord, and had the guide hold them up as I mountedand stood gingerly upon their tops, overlooking the nests,. YOUNG WOOD IBIS POSED FOR A PORTRAIT but with nothing to hold on to. With no less care I hoistedup my ten-pound 5x7 reflex camera, and, thanks to thegood light, was able to make successful snap-shot pictures ofseveral of the nests. This being done, I descended safely,taking with me one of the young Wood Ibises, which I posedfor portraits upon the ground. Another small island was quite near by, where I should have 46 WILD WINGS liked to hide for an hour or two, to secure pictures of the shyreturning ibises as they ahghted upon their nests. But alreadythe day was waning, and we had the long, hard tramp beforeus. For want of time, another lake connected with this onewas left unexplored. How we suffered that day from thirst! We had been toldthat we could get fresh water here. But a combination of lowwater inland and high tides seaward had made the waterbrackish and poisonous. I became
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherb, booksubjectbirds
