our breasts all turned to the sun, and rest or sleep for an hour or so. (5: p.
115) At the end of this time our dinner is mostly digested so we take to
our wings and circle away to great heights in the sky. We feel it's grand
to be alive, and we do all kinds of fancy flying. It's almost like a sky
dance, as we stretch out our necks and legs and soar through the air.
Often we fly in long lines, flapping our wings a bit, and then sailing a bit
with our wings almost motionless." (5: p. 115)
"How wonderful," declared Peggy Ann, "to take your daily
exercise so far above the earth. But don't you ever stay at home?"
"If you could fly away with me to a place called Corkscrew
Bend, near Big Cypress Swamp. I would show you the rookery we call
home." (4: p. 145) Here the trees are old and many of them very tall.
To this spot we come in great numbers to lay our eggs and to raise our
babies. (4: p. 445)
"It is so quiet and still in this jungle of the Everglades that the
moss hanging from the oak trees seems to be sighing in its sleep. Perhaps
it does. For did you know that the moss is said to be the hair of a
Seminole princess? According to the story, this princess cut off her black
hair and buried it at the foot of an oak tree when her bridegroom was
killed. Sorrow turned it gray and that is why the moss is gray."
(American Indian Legends).