. Wild wings; adventures of a camera-hunter among the larger wild birds of North America on sea and land . rbills, accompanied by the harshest expletives of the herontongue. I (lid not catch sight of their parents, but nowand then a Great White Heron Haj^ped warily overhead ata safe distance, to reconnoitre. What an aggravation it isto photograph a flying snow-white heron against a clear bluesky, and find that as both cannot be white, it is the heronthat has to be falsely portrayed as black ! Having secured another, and nameless, vessel, no betterthan the Maggie, as it proved, except that it w
. Wild wings; adventures of a camera-hunter among the larger wild birds of North America on sea and land . rbills, accompanied by the harshest expletives of the herontongue. I (lid not catch sight of their parents, but nowand then a Great White Heron Haj^ped warily overhead ata safe distance, to reconnoitre. What an aggravation it isto photograph a flying snow-white heron against a clear bluesky, and find that as both cannot be white, it is the heronthat has to be falsely portrayed as black ! Having secured another, and nameless, vessel, no betterthan the Maggie, as it proved, except that it was of lighterdraught, we started off for a general exploration of the inac-cessible keys of the inner bays. First, however, we sailedwestward to Sandy Key. Though the guide said there were AMONG THE FLORIDA KEYS 31 no bird-rookeries on it now, I was anxious to examine theisland where Audubon passed the night under the mosquitonet, which he so vividly describes in one of his a good easterly wind we w^ere there by noon, and, hav-ing eaten, hurried to go ashore. This key is long and narrow,. YOUNG wards herons. MAKING VICIOUS LUNGES over a mile from end to end, is wooded, except for some openplots of grass and cacti, and is graced with a genuine beachof shell-sand. When Audubon landed here years ago, he records that our first fire among a crowd of the great godwits laid pros-trate sixtv-five of these birds. Rose-colored curlews [RoseateSpoonbills] stalked gracefully beneath the mangroves. Purpleherons rose at almost every step we took, and each cactus 32 WILD WINGS supported the nest of a white ibis. The air was darkened bywhistUng wings, while on the water floated gaUinules and otherinteresting birds. Next morning at low tide, he was amazedto see the flats covered with feeding birds in all now, as we reviewed these same scenes, traversed thebeach of shell-sand, searched the groves of red and blackmangrove, examined the little interior swamp and the pa
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Keywords: ., bookauthorjobh, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds
