Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va) 1886-1890, 1889-12-06
TIE CRANES, ISLAND HOME.
A GEsa Nesting Place fer Them On M
ISLAND of tho Georgia Coast.

Gtsa Nesting Place far Them en- M
ISLAND of tho Georgia Coast.
Visitors to Daufuskie Island during
the summer tell of the roosting and
brooding places of the cranes on the
island. Storks, cranes and bitterns
spend the day along the estuaries OF
the seacoast and wade and fly over. the
miles and miles of salt marshes.
Alongabout o'clock in the afternoon
they begin to collect in the matted
shrubbery and underground OF Dau-
fuskie Island for the night. They fly
singly, by pairs, and in tocks ranging
from twenty-five to fifty.
A gentleman who was NARROWING
on the island few days ago said that
he was ignorant OF the habits of the
sea fowl, and one evening, near twl-
light, he was returning to his quar-
tiers, and when passing near dense
thicket lie heard a great chattering,
and many OF The voices sounded like
that of humans Resting on his gun
he listened attcntively, and finally
came to the conclusion that 1t was
colony of cranes. lie threw stick
into the thicket, when, with a wild
shrek and screech, some 400 or 500
cranes few out, circled about while,
and having recovered from their
fright, settled down again from sight,
still keeping up their chatter and clat-
ter.
Capt. W. }. Thompson says the
cranes find in tie dense underground
of some parts OF the island a secure
aud almost unapproachable retreat
from intrusion. and there they lay
their eggs and rear their broods OF
young Few people have the temer-
ity to invade the thicket to disturb
eggs or young birds, for it is not only
home for the cranes, but a paradise
for rattlers and moccasins, which are
the only enemies which make much
Roadway against the cranes. 1t IS said,
however that one or two summers
ago daring hunter, with difficulty,
sorced an entrance into the thlcket
and carried off three barrels of eggs,
for which he found a ready market
in Savannah at the price of hens eggs,
for which he sold them, but as the
eggs are highly priced by epicures, he
might have more than Quadrupled his
money if he had shipped them north;
The experience was so perilous and
difficult, however, that no one has
vcntured into the thicllets to disturb
the nests since.
Be ff77ro leaving the nest the paren;
Birds bring them small fish, often
from u great distance, and feed the
Young. and hunter who shot crane
on the island said that she had nearly
two hundred small minnows in her
pouch. As the young grow older,
larger fish are caught by the parent
birds. which are carried in their bills,
and the FISH eagle watches the flight
Of the stoyl and crane, and often pur-
sues, forces the frightened bird to drop
the prey, and, with unerrlng descent,
the fish eagle catches the fish before II
reaches the water or the ground.
The cranes 60 further south on The
approach of cold weather, but Il the
winter is an open and mild one they
do not all nj crate, and their tall
forms and snow white plumage are
often seen in winter through the herb
eye Of the marshes like picture.
The crane Is pursued vigorously py
tie hunter, who finds a ready market
for the plumage as the snow white
feathers are popular with the women
of fashion, and plumage dealers IN
New York have hunters regularly
employed at 4 salary in the sonth
Florida and along the Atlantic and
Gulf coasts of the peninsula, and all
through the almost ilnpenetrable Ia
goons and bayous OF the Everglades,
Who keep ND the warfare on the birds
of plumage and song all through the
winter. and this TACT has led to the
agitation of the question whether a
rigid law should not be passed to pun
;sR by fines and penalties all who are
convicted of shooting any birds except
those which are edible.-Savannah
News.