The Oologist. 



VOL. XV. NO. n. 



ALBION, N. Y., NOV., 1898 



Whole No. 148 



A Day in a Swamp. 



Not twenty miles from the State 

 House at Boston, is a long belt of rich 

 swamp land. A narrow river winds its 

 crooked bed throughout the entire 

 length and combined with the numer- 

 ous tributary streams, probably forms 

 the basis of the swamp. The growth is 

 varied. Along the banks clusters of 

 dark green pickerel weeds flourish with 

 perhaps a bright cow lily blooming 

 near. Tall grass and bull rushes fringe 

 the edge of the ri\'er, the rushes grow- 

 ing in well defined tracts. The short 

 quill grass is found in another place 

 and serrated triangular grass in others. 

 These growths ai'e strangely pro- 

 nounced, although the general con- 

 ditions appear to be similar. For ex- 

 ample, at one part of the marsh I may 

 find the triangular grass with the pur- 

 ple swamp Geum blooming profusely 

 among it. In another an entirely dif- 

 ferent form takes the place of both 

 grass and geum. This is characteristic 

 of the entire swamp. 



Dividing the marsh into two portions 

 is an active railway, the river taking its 

 course on the left. Bordering the dry 

 land are woods of oak, maple and 

 cedar, alder and willow growths, fields 

 and cow pastures. A few island like 

 gi'oves of cedar are present on the right 

 side of the place. During the time in- 

 tervening from August till April the 

 marshes are quite frequently visited by 

 gunners after rail, snipe, muskrats, 

 etc., but happily the breeding period of 

 the birds finds them seldom intruded 

 upon, unless by collectors after speci- 

 mens in various branches of natural 

 science. 



On the 11th of June 1898, I visited the 

 above locality in compan3' with a very 



desirable friend, after a few eggs of 

 the Long-billed Marsh Wren, and orni- 

 thological recreation in general. We 

 procured a small gunning skiff and 

 started uff. The day was cloudy and 

 at times decidedly threatening but no 

 drops of rain disturbed the surface of 

 the stream throughout the day. This, 

 however, mattered little to us- we were 

 wet as possible when our landing was 

 reached toward dusk. 



The air was full of the delightful 

 sounds of nature and our spirits were 

 at their best. What new unexpected 

 glimpses of life might not gladden our 

 eyes before ihe day was past! It is 

 perhaps these fine surprises which con- 

 stitute much of the charm of a trip like 

 ours. Birds were all about us. Red- 

 wings rose from the dark green grass, 

 Bitterns boomed at regular intervals 

 throughout the day. Swamp Sparrows 

 trilled gaily from the dry grass patches 

 and the twitterings '^f countless Tree 

 Swallows circling about tended to pro- 

 duce a beautiful medley. Even the air 

 was more than ordinarily fresh and the 

 shrill pipings of the little Hylodes were 

 the loudest of ail. 



We found the vivacious Marsh Wrens 

 very abundant along the river side and 

 succeeded in finding plenty of nests, 

 only one of which held eggs. The 

 Wrens were chuckling and chattering 

 even while we secured this and were at 

 it when we left. 



At every bend in the river we landed 

 and splashed about through the dense 

 grass, and at one point while thus en- 

 gaged I ran right upon a Virginia Rail 

 which was carefully guarding six eggs. 

 The bird left and splashed out of sight 

 as I bent down toward her and re- 

 mained so until I had left, once making 

 a loud croaking sound. Three eggs 



