476 AUDUBON 



bell rang for Harris, Bell, and me to return, which we did 

 at once, as dinner was preparing for the table. Talking 

 of dinner makes me think of giving you the hours, usu- 

 ally, of our meals. Breakfast at half-past six, dinner at 

 half-past twelve, tea or supper at seven or later as the 

 case may be. We have not taken much wood here ; it is 

 ash, but quite green. We saw Orchard Orioles, Blue- 

 gray Flycatchers, Great-crested and Common Pewees, 

 Mallards, Pileated Woodpeckers, Blue Jays, and Blue- 

 birds; heard a Marsh Wren, saw a Crow, a W'ood Thrush, 

 and Water Thrush. Indigo-birds and Parrakeets plenti- 

 ful. This afternoon we went into the pocket of a sand 

 bar, got aground, and had to back out for almost a mile. 

 We saw an abundance of Ducks, some White Pelicans, 

 and an animal that we guessed was a Skunk. We have 

 run about fifty miles, and therefore have done a good 

 day's journey. We have passed the mouths of several 

 small rivers, and also some very fine prairie land, ex- 

 tending miles towards the hills. It is now nine o'clock, 

 a beautiful night with the moon shining. We have 

 seen several Ravens, and White-headed Eagles on their 

 nests. 



May 8, Monday. A beautiful calm day; the country 

 we saw was much the same as that we passed yesterday, 

 and nothing of great importance took place except that 

 at a wooding-place on the very verge of the State of 

 Missouri (the northwest corner) Bell killed a Black 

 Squirrel which friend Bachman has honored with the 

 name of my son John, Sciurus .Audiibonii.^ We are told 

 that this species is not uncommon here. It was a good- 

 sized adult male, and Sprague drew an outline of it. 

 Harris shot another specimen of the new Finch. We saw 

 Parrakeets and many small birds, but nothing new or 

 very rare. This evening I wrote a long letter to each 



1 Not a good species, but the dusky variety of the protean Western Fox 

 Squirrel, Sciurus ludovicianus ; for which, see a previous note. — E. C. 



