268 THE STORY OF A BIRD LOVER 



better borrow from him than attempt a new 

 description. 



^* I have always imagined, that in the plumage of the beauti- 

 ful ivory-billed woodpecker there is something very closely 

 aUied to the style of the great Vandyke. The broad extent of 

 its dark, glossy body and tail, the large and well-defined white 

 markings of the wings, neck, and bill, relieved by the rich 

 carmine of the pendent crest of the male, and the brilliant 

 yellow of its eye, have never failed to remind me of some of 

 the boldest and noblest productions of that inimitable artist's 

 pencil. So strangely indeed have these thoughts become in- 

 grafted in my mind, as I have gradually obtained a more inti- 

 mate acquaintance with the ivory-billed woodpecker, that 

 whenever I have observed one of these birds flying from one 

 tree to another, I have mentally exclaimed, 'There goes a 

 Vandyke ! ' 



" I wish, kind reader, it were in my power to present to your 

 mind's eye the favorite resort of the ivory-billed woodpecker. 

 Would that I could describe the extent of those deep morasses, 

 overshadowed by millions of gigantic dark cypresses, spreading 

 their sturdy, moss-covered branches as if to admonish intrud- 

 ing man to pause and reflect on the many difficulties which he 

 must encounter, should he persist in venturing farther into their 

 inaccessible recesses, extending for miles before him, where he 

 should be interrupted by huge projecting branches, here and 

 there the massy trunk of a fallen and decaying tree, and thou- 

 sands of creeping and twining plants of innumerable species ! 

 Would that I could represent to you the dangerous nature of 

 the ground, its oozing, spongy, and miry disposition, although 

 covered with a beautiful, but treacherous carpeting, composed 

 of the richest mosses, flags, and waterlilies, no sooner receiving 

 the pressure of the foot than it yields and endangers the very 

 life of the adventurer, whilst here and there, as he approaches 

 an opening, that proves merely a lake of black, muddy water, 



