134 Mr. 0. C. Taylor on Birds observed 



of Parrakeets alights in a pine-tree close to tlie roadside. I am 

 near enough for a shot, but their plumage so closely assimilates 

 to the foliage that I cannot distinguish them, as the sun is 

 shining directly in my face. To my great disgust they fly away, 

 screaming loudly. The present settlement of New Smyrna con- 

 sists of two wooden houses, one of whiah belongs to a man of 

 the name of Sheldon. It has recently been enlarged, and is 

 now elevated to the rank of an hotel or boarding-house, for the 

 benefit of invalids who come here in winter ; and I must say 

 that it is one of the most comfortable houses of the kind that I 

 have yet met with in America. It is situated at the head of 

 Mosquito Inlet, about three miles from the sea. In front of the 

 house are several swampy islands of various extent, covered with 

 reeds and mangroves. 



March 28, — I go out at sunrise, and explore the vicinity of 

 Sheldon's house. Except a bit of badly cultivated ground close 

 to the settlement, the whole of the back country is now over- 

 grown with bush, although formerly large tracts were under 

 cultivation, producing cotton and sugars. Much of the bush is 

 mere scrub ; but there are large " hummocks," as they here call 

 the thick woods of palmetto, oak, magnolia, and other trees. 

 Nearly everywhere throughout Florida the ground is covered 

 with a dwarf palmetto, which grows in patches, like fern, and is 

 most difficult to walk through. It is called " saw "-palmetto, as 

 the stem of the plant is covered with sharp points, like the teeth 

 of a saw. A common practice here, as in other countries, is to 

 set fire to the woods and bushes, to burn off the rubbish and 

 allow the young grass to gi-ow up. After the fire has passed 

 over the saw-palmetto, it leaves the sharp-edged stems all stand- 

 ing, as tough and pliable as wire, and more difficult than ever to 

 traverse, with the additional disadvantage of being covered with 

 soot, so much so as to blacken everything with which they come 

 in contact. 



I see Towhe Buntings in plenty, and King-Birds, White and 

 Blue Herons, are constantly flying overhead, between the marshes 

 and the hummocks. For some time I find nothing worthy of notice 

 until my return homewards, when, close to the gate of Sheldon's 

 enclosure, I see several Florida Jays [Cijnnocitta Jloridana) among 



