r:o 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 14-No. 4 



and dry and four loads of buck shot. I un- 

 loaded two of the latter and recharged them 

 from the soaked shells with eights, and we 

 started on our tramp. 



That day was full of incidents. My little 

 "Keef found my belt a more convenient 

 perch than my shoulder and took up his po- 

 sition there for the rest of the trip. My guide, 

 who called himself Billy, kept picking up 

 acorns and feeding him, and they were con- 

 tinually calling and answering each other. 

 We met a large hunting party of Mikasukies 

 who had come up from the Big Cypress, south- 

 west of tlie lake. I could not distinguish 

 much difference in their dialect, though tlie 

 general tone seemed to be harder than the 

 Seminole. We nooned at the famous Billy 

 Bowlegs battle field. My friend Billy exijlained 

 that the redoubtable old fighter was an an- 

 cestor of his, and showed the relationship by 

 means of tliree dots, thus: :• The lower one 

 was his (the speaker's) mother, that above it 

 was her mother, and the one beside it was her 

 brother, Billy Bowlegs. He then informed 

 me that his own name was Postapolinch. 



All the afternoon we w\aded tlirougli a cy- 

 press sw'amp, and when night approached the 

 Parakeets began to pass in large flocks. Their 

 tree, as Billy called it, is a lai-ge hollow cypress 

 about five miles from the lake, and pi'obably 

 a mile and a half east of the main course of 

 the Locosumpohatchee. Large numbers come 

 here to roost every night. Billy says that 

 there is only one small hole for them to go in 

 at, but it was too dark when I got tliere to de- 

 termine much with cert.ainty. I could only 

 secure as many specimens as my ammunition 

 would allow, and then back out of the swamp 

 and make camp. Billy insisted on a regular 

 sharing of the birds between us and then bar- 

 tered his share back to me, except one. Then 

 he held a pair of splinters for me to skin by 

 and asked me many questions as I woi-ked. 



Late in the night 1 heard him stirring about, 

 anfl in the morning he showed me a skin that 

 he had made up while I s'ept. I can assure 

 you I couldn't do any better myself. The 

 only trouble was that he had not determined 

 the sex. 



Next day I started for the settlement and 

 Billy went part way, and tlien started off to 

 join the Mikasukies. They had fired the 

 prairie and were making a big hunt, which 

 was a little unfortunate for me, as my route 

 was dead to windward and right into the fire. 

 I had to stop and "make a burn" on my ac- 

 count and in doing so managed somehow to 



lose my note-book, glasses and shoes. Getting 

 into the settlement barefooted was a difficult 

 matter, and I still have cactus thorns in my 

 feet that I trod upon that night. 



But my little "Keet" stuck to me all the 

 way and is now on my shoulder as I write. I 

 hadn't the heart to make a specimen of him. 



yValter Iloxie. 



The Tables Turned. 



We have doubtless, all of us, heard the oft- 

 repeated tale of the Eagle robbing the Osprey 

 of his hard-earned meal, but it has never come 

 to my notice that the national bird of our 

 country was in turn desijoiled by the Osprey. 



Dviring a conversation with Mr. W. F. Au- 

 bens of this city, he alluded to this fact and re- 

 lated the story to me. 



In his boyhood days, some twenty-five years 

 ago, in the town of West Bath, Me., there was 

 an immense pine, which for years held the nest 

 of a pair of Eagles, and as it stood in a clear- 

 ing, the birds could not be approached witliout 

 being disturbed, and so enjoyed their home in 

 peace, in spite of the gunners. 



One day, while standing in the door of his 

 father's house, he was a witness to a battle be- 

 tween this pair of Eagles and four Ospreys, 

 who, as developments proved, envied the birds 

 their ]u)me and desired to appropriate it to 

 their own uses. 



It seemed to be a preconcerted affair, as 

 each Eagle was assailed by two Ospreys, and 

 the attack well managed, as one assailant 

 would pounce upon the larger fowl, quickly 

 followed by the other, as if they understood 

 the theory of successive fiank attacks. The 

 battle continued until the Eagles were driven 

 from the field, and the smaller birds then pro- 

 ceeded to take possession of the tree. 



Their victcn-y was short-lived, however, as a 

 stronger enemy, in the sliape of the farmer, 

 who owned the tree, and who was angry at the 

 defeat of his pets, the Eagles, appeared upon 

 the scene, and cut down the old monarch of 

 the forest, that the Ospreys might realize no 

 benefit. 



This pair of Eagles went to another tree, not 

 far distant, and built another nest, but it was 

 situated in the woods near the highway, and 

 the gunners from the city could creep up 

 through the underbrush and pop at tliem witli 

 their rifles, which finally drove the birds away 

 to more secure places of peace and quiet. 



F. A. Ih(ffs. 



