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attracting feeding aggregations of wading birds, although

the ponds appeared to be in the right stage of drying for

wading bird feeding. It was speculated at the 'time of

these observations that fish life in these ponds must be

limited or absent. According to a long-time observer of

south Florida, Wood Storks and other wading birds of the

area of Everglades National Park did not use to feed, as

they do now in the Shark River Valley, but fed instead in

the upland ponds of the pine islands (F.C. Craighead, pers.

comm.). Following drainage Wood Storks may have switched-

from feeding almost exclusively in upland ponds to feeding

primarily in ponds at lower elevations, because the upland

ponds could no longer provide food. Lowland ponds may be

able to provide more food for Wood Storks than they did-2

formerly because, as a result of the general lowering of

the water table,' resident predator populations in lowland

ponds have been greatly reduced. Predator populations are

particularly low immediately following years of severe

drought, when complete drying of even many lowland ponds-

occurs.

 In their study of Wood Stork nesting success in

relation to water levels in Everglades National Park,

Kushlan et a_. (1975) observed that, prior to drainage

related changes in the water patterns of Everglades

National Park, Wood Storks had their most successful

nesting seasons in the wettest years; but, following

drainage successful nesting seasons have occurred only in