372 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



if fully exposed, it would remain but a few hours. And to show how 

 acute their sight is, I need only say, that a snake hung upon a twig 

 will be removed in less than twenty-four hours. . 



The blue-bird has three broods in a season, beginning to nest as early 

 as February. It need spend no time in seeking out a place for nesting, 

 for the holes in dead pine trees, left by the past year's woodpeckers, 

 are taken up. The dead pine trees, therefore, contribute to this bird's 

 increase. The mocking-bird here gives a charm to these places, soli- 

 tary as they may be. Entirely unmolested, they gather around the 

 dwelling of the inhabitant, seeking apparently to make his life pleasant 

 by their ever varied and varying notes. They celebrate their connubial 

 state with more than usual joy, and, during the warm days and nights 

 at the opening of summer, the male sings through the whole twenty- 

 four hours ; and many a night after midnight have I been awakened 

 by what exactly resembled a man whistling for his dog, directly under 

 my window. 



The great number of woodpeckers here seen must be noticed by every 

 one. Not only does every species known in the United States here 

 reside, but great numbers of each, and especially the red-headed and 

 golden-winged, which meet your view on every side. 



Their great numbers are in exact accordance with many conditions 

 to which we have alluded ; for they seem always to follow on the track 

 of the wood-boring insects. For not only do these insects destroy the 

 pines so that they can easily nest in them, but they are themselves ex- 

 cellent food for these birds. And thus it would appear, that they are 

 the enemies of those very beings which indirectly afford them the 

 means of easy propagation and life. Did these destructive insects not 

 exist, there would not be sufficient inducement for the woodpeckers to 

 live here ; and while they may be considered as very subservient in 

 thus destroying the energies of the pine, they are at the same time 

 eating up the very conditions, as it were, of their own existence. 



An enumeration of the fauna of the pine barrens gives the following 

 numbers: Mammalia, 17; birds, 43; reptiles, 40. Of both birds 

 and reptiles, many more may be found to reside here fora little while ; 

 but, in giving this list, I believe I include nearly all which make this 

 their permanent habitat. 



