102 The Ottawa Naturalist. | September 



of Ontario. These long' limbs were thickly covered with the 

 Hoary Polypody, and occasionally one would find the native 

 orchids ot the g-enus Epidetidrurn mmgied with it. This fern did 

 not appear to grow freely on any tree except the live oak, while 

 its larger relative, Polypodium aiireuni, was found solely on the 

 tall Palmettos, aud always at a height of at least ten feet, and the 

 ease with which short wet moss rubs off on one's trousers is a 

 great discourager of climbing, consequently we failed to get a 

 good specimen of this fern. 



The winter visitor meets with very many familiar birds, and 

 some few strangers in considerable numbers, but the conditions 

 are so different to those in the north that it takes one some time to 

 become facile in the hunt. Ninety-nine one-hundredths of the 

 interior of Florida, as we saw it, is either open water, cypress 

 swamp or pine barrens ; that is to say, the dry land, with prac- 

 tically no exception, is pine barrens; and the name is well chosen. 

 Occasional Live Oaks, Black Jack, and scrub Palmetto form the 

 only break in the woods, and the almost absolute bareness of the 

 soil is oppressive to a northerner. No grass, no weeds, no shrubs, 

 no ferns — none of the thrifty upland growth of the north meets 

 the eye. 



Then where are the birds ? Well, after sufficient search we 

 find that they are mainly in the villag-es, where the plant growth 

 is more varied and the food supply more abundant. In the streets 

 of Tarpon Springs, on the Gulf coast, we could hear and see all 

 day troops, couples and singles of the Florida Purple Grackle, 

 and of the Boat-tailed Grackle, singing from the shade 

 trees, feeding in the roads and in the yards, but in 

 three weeks I did not get one chance to collect a single 

 specimen of the Purple Grackle, and only one Boat-tail, 

 very close to the town. This latter is a most amusing- fellow. 

 His song defies description. Some clear notes that might belong 

 to a thrush, some grackle-tones, and a large variety of chuckles, 

 crackles and grunts which are peculiarly his own, surprise and 

 delight his new acquaintance. The male, while not really much 

 larger than our Bronzed Grackle, looks so on account of his long- 

 tail, and at first sight one hesitates to recognize the female as a 



