Roseate Spoonbills wheeled into view above the swamp, but quickly
passed from sight.

[Illustration: Members of a junior Audubon class at Fergus Falls,
Minnesota]

The most interesting birds, those concerning which the Audubon Society
is most solicitous, are the White Egrets. These snow-white models of
grace and beauty have been persecuted for their plumes almost to the
point of extermination, and here is situated the largest assemblage of
them left in Florida.

"Those 'long whites' are never off my mind for a {210} minute," said
the warden, as we paused to watch some fly over. "Two men came to my
camp last week who thought I didn't know them, but I did. They were
old-time plume hunters. They said they were hunting cattle, but I knew
better--they were after Egrets and came to see if I was on guard. I
told them if they saw any one after plumes to pass {211} the word that
I would shoot on sight any man with a gun who attempted to enter the
Corkscrew. I would do it, too," he added as he tapped the barrel of
his Winchester. "It is terrible to hear the young birds calling for
food after the old ones have been killed to get the feathers for rich
women to wear. I am not going to have my birds sacrificed that way."

[Illustration: Hungry Young Egrets]

The teeming thousands of birds in this rookery feed their young to a
more or less extent on fish, and from the nests many fragments fall
into the mud and water below. In the wise economy of nature few
objects of real value are suffered to go to waste. Resting on the
water plants, coiled on logs, or festooned in the low bushes, numerous
cotton-mouthed water-moccasins lie in wait. Silently and motionless
they watch and listen, now and then raising their heads when a light
splash tells them of the approach of some heedless frog, or of the
falling of some dead fish like manna from the nests above. May is the
dry season, and the low water of the swamp accounted in a measure for
the unusual number of snakes to {212} be seen. Exercising a fair
amount of caution, I slew that morning fourteen poisonous reptiles, one
of which measured more than five feet in length and had a girth I was
just able to encompass with both hands.

_Wardens Shot by Plume Hunters._--This is a region where the Audubon
warden must constantly keep his lonely watch, for should he leave even
for a short time there would be danger of the colony being raided and
the protective work of many seasons w