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Article: A Bird in Hand.(Cape Sable sparrow)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Animals
- Article date:
- January 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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There was a time, barely beyond the memory of some old-timers, when a wide, shallow, slow-flowing sheet of fresh water known as the River of Grass moved imperceptibly across much of southern Florida. It radiated from its headwaters at Lake Okeechobee in the north, fanning out from shore to shore as it spilled into Florida Bay in the south.
A century of diking, shunting, damming, and draining has reduced much of this vast wetland to prairie and, in places, has left only Shark Slough, the main artery of the river, still flowing. Nine out of 10 birds of some species have vanished, along with numerous fishes, plants, and other animals. Today the River of Grass--better ...