142 Mr. G. C. Taylor on the Birds of Florida. 



I see several large Woodpeckers, and get within range of one ; 

 but my gun misses fire, owing to the dampness of the air. They 

 appear to be birds of long flight. Occasionally I see them pass- 

 ing over Sheldon's house, flying high and with a somewhat heavy 

 flapping of the wings. Deer-tracks are plentiful about the sugar- 

 mill, and on my return home along a sandy pathway, I see the 

 fresh tracks of a " Tiger,'' which I trace to within a short dis- 

 tance of Sheldon's house. The footprint is like that of a large 

 dog, but distinguished from the latter by showing no marks of 

 the nails. I tell Sheldon what I have seen, and he, perhaps 

 thinking of the safety of his pigs, proposes to go out for a hunt 

 into the hummocks near, after tigers, deer, turkeys, or anything 

 we can find. As soon as I have had some breakfast we start, 

 taking a lot of dogs with us to start and "tree" the game. While 

 passing through the woods I shoot a fine male Pileated Wood- 

 pecker; but, as my gun is loaded with large shot, it does not 

 make a good specimen. We find no Deer. A Turkey is seen 

 and shot at by one of the party. I see a pair of Swallow-tailed 

 Kites, and shoot at one of them, but, owing to the dense foliage, 

 I cannot see with what result. Suddenly the dogs commence 

 barking furiously. We go up and find them assembled at the 

 foot of a lofty tree, which is covered with festoons of hanging 

 moss. For a long time we can see nothing; but Sheldon at last 

 perceives a thick lump, almost entirely hidden by moss, among 

 the topmost branches. I fire, and down falls a "'Coon," which, 

 being only wounded, is quickly despatched by the dogs. Sheldon 

 says that the Wild Turkeys are now nesting. According to his 

 account, they lay their eggs in the pine-barrens, at the edge of a 

 marsh. Parroquets, too, are also breeding about this time. They 

 generally breed in the cypress-swamps. They roost in company, 

 making use of a hollow tree as their resting-place. I am told 

 that some live-oak-cutters, up Halifax River, saw a flock go one 

 evening into a hole in a tree to roost ; next day, while the birds 

 were absent, they cut the trunk of the tree nearly through, only 

 leaving just enough uncut to keep it standing. After the Parro- 

 quets had gone in to roost, they felled it with a few blows of the 

 axe, and secured them all. 



[To be continued.] 



