138 Mr. G. C. Taylor on Birds observed 



averages about 7Q°. The heat out of doors is never oppressive 

 as long as there is any breeze to be felt ; but in woods inland, 

 where the sea-breeze does not penetrate, it is occasionally very 

 sultry. The sea-breeze is loaded with moisture, and I find some 

 difficulty in getting my bird-skins to dry well. Sometimes the 

 damp air affects them so much as to cause feathers to fall off, 

 especially from the head and tips of the wings. 



April 1. — Out in the morning early, but did nothing. There 

 was a thick fog, and for some time I lost my way in the bush. 

 In the afternoon I went some miles to the south along the savan- 

 nahs, and came back by the shore — a long tramp through marshes 

 and scrub as high as my head, and very thick. This was a pro- 

 fitless day^s work, as I only saw two large Woodpeckers, either 

 Pileated or Ivory-billed, and they were so wild that I could not 

 get within a hundred yards of them. 



A day or two ago, two Englishmen, H — and L — , returned to 

 Smyrna from Indian River, where they had been for the last 

 month on a sporting expedition. They took with them two 

 boats, with George Sheldon — Sheldon's eldest son, to whom the 

 boats belonged — and a coloured man, named Bill, to cook and 

 mind the camp. Before leaving, they went out one afternoon to 

 a large hummock, called the Back Swamp, to look for Turkeys. 

 While waiting there, a she-bear and cub ran up to them. They 

 shot the former, but missed the latter. 



Upon the whole they did not have much shooting. They only 

 killed one bear and three or four deer, but a good many alligators, 

 and they had good sport in fishing and harpooning Saw-fish. 

 Some of the saws which they brought back were fully three feet 

 long. They had no good dogs, which are indispensable for find- 

 ing bears in a country so thickly wooded. They express them- 

 selves greatly pleased with the trip, particularly with the deli- 

 cious, healthy, and cheerful climate, which is so well adapted for 

 camping out, and with the never-failing sport in fishing. The 

 fish usually caught were Drum and Sheepshead, both plentiful 

 in these waters. They were not ornithologists, and could tell 

 me but little about the birds. They noticed a few flocks of 

 Parroquets and some large ^Voodpeckers. 



The quadrupeds in this part of Florida are deer (Virginian), 



