"As we entered that well-known place, we saw nests on every bush, cactus, or tree. Whether the number was one thousand or ten I cannot say, but this I well know: -I counted forty-seven on a single plum -tree. These nests of the White Ibis measure about fifteen inches in diameter, and are formed of dry twigs intermixed with fibrous roots and green branches growing on the island . . . ." ". . . As birds of this genus feed by night as well as by day, the White Ibis attends the tides at whatever hour they maybe. Some of which bred on Sandy key would go to the keys next the Atlantic, more than forty miles distant, while others made for the Ever Glades; (Everglades) but they never went off singly. They rose with common accord from the breeding ground, forming themselves into long lines, often a mile in extent, and soon disappeared from view. Soon after the turn of the tide we saw them approaching in the same order. Not a note could you have heard on these occasions; yet if you disturb them when far from their nests, they utter loud hoarse cries resembling the syllables hunk, hunk, hunk, either while on the ground or as they flop off."
-- John Audubon's account of the White Ibis in the Florida Keys