68 



THE OSPREY. 



found a pleasant resting place. A pair of 

 Great Crested Flycatchers appeared to be nest- 

 ing in a cavity in one of the upper branches of 

 one of these trees, while in another a pair of 

 pretty Parula Warblers had concealed their neat 

 home in a bunch of grey Tillandsia which drapes 

 these silent sentinels of the lake. Toward noon 

 these trees and bordering stumps were visited 

 by strings of Turkey Buzzards which would 

 stop for a drink and perhaps a bit of a bath be- 

 fore resuming their graceful searching flight. 

 We spent the greater portion of the day collect- 

 ing plants, amongst them a beautiful lot of a 

 new fern, since described as Dryopteris goldiana 

 celsa by Mr. Palmer, and many Prothalial fronds 

 and young stages of a number of species, which 

 were growing abundantly in the rich, moist, 

 peaty, soil, exposed by the deep cut made for the 

 Outlet Canal. The Red-bellied and Pileated 

 Woodpeckers seemed to be quite abundant in 

 the large timber bordering- the canal, and the 

 loud buoyant notes of the latter were very pro- 

 nounced as they went laughing from place to 

 place. Red-shouldered Hawks, perhaps of the 

 Florida variety, were also quite abundant, and 

 judging from the hooting at night Syrnium 

 nebulosum alleni was well represented in the 

 swamp fauna. 



We returned to the hotel on the morning of 

 the ninth and remained only long enough to dis- 

 pose of some of our collections and to replenish 

 our larder for a trip up Washington Ditch. 



This water way takes its name from the fact 

 that Washington himself supervised its con- 

 struction. It is between four and five miles in 

 length extending from Jericho Ditch near its 

 union with the lake, in a west of northwesterly 

 direction. It is a beautiful path, passing 

 through dense timber almost throughout its 

 whole extent. Tall trees to the right and left 

 stretch their long branches across this watery 

 trail and thus leave the canopy o'er head almost 

 unbroken. Only here and there where a tall 

 cypress with its few trim branches decked with 

 slender needles rears its towering top, does one 

 get a clearer view of the heavens above for the 

 needles form a veil-like canopy not at all dense, 

 like that of the broad leaved trees. Hooded 

 Warblers and Prothonotaries are conspicuous 

 features of this region; while the Tufted Tits 

 and Carolina Wrens yodeled their jolly songs as 

 they moved about among the lower vegetation. 

 The scene was a most charming one and pre- 

 sented all that could be desired upon our first 

 trip. This time, however, we found more than 

 we had bargained for and all of this in the en- 

 tomological line. In '97 I made my first ac- 

 quaintance with the Black Flies, and this only 

 on the last day of our visit. I was greatly dis- 

 appointed in their size. The stories I had heard 

 had led me to believe these little bull dogs to be at 

 least as large as a good-sized Horse-fly and now 

 they proved to be of almost microscopic propor- 

 tions; but if their size was small their appetite 

 certainly was lar; e enough and their persis- 

 tency a thing to be admired. They appeared to 

 be all jaws, ever busily engaged in digging. 

 While at the lake we had occasionally been vis- 

 ited by a large ferocious fly of flat form and 



more or less transparent wings, whose visit 

 usually meant a piece of skin gone and a painful 

 bleeding spot. No matter how little time 

 elapsed between your discovery of the intruder 

 and his expulsion you were sure to be left bleed- 

 ing if he touched you. On this trip up Wash- 

 ington Ditch, I killed seven, at one time, as fast 

 as I could strike. They belonged to two differ- 

 ent species, and I believe we failed to bring 

 specimens back with us for identification, our 

 mode of collecting being too severe to permit of 

 preservation. These pests, together with count- 

 less Black Flies and Mosquitos made it neces- 

 sary for one to brush his face with each stroke 

 of the paddle, and I remember well that as we 

 withdrew the paddle from the water we would 

 brush our face and neck with the hollow of our 

 arm in order to keep these beasts of the forest 

 from devouring us then and there. 



The water in the ditch was quite low and ne- 

 cessitated considerable pushing and poling, oc- 

 casionally, to slide our boat ahead over the 

 slimy bottom until we would reach a deeper 

 stretch of water. 



We arrived at the end toward evening and 

 established ourselves for the night in the corn 

 crib belonging to the colored family at the head 

 of the ditch. In the mean time it had grown 

 dark, but being anxious to have a drink of pure 

 water and some bread, neither of which had 

 been ours since we left Suffolk I persuaded one 

 of the little colored urchins to act as my guide 

 on a trip to the nearest store, which was at 

 Sanders, Va., some three miles distant. 



Heavy thunder clouds marked the western 

 horizon and the flashes of lightning became 

 more and more vivid and lighted our way as we 

 proceeded along winding paths, over boggy roads 

 across this outlying member of the swamp. 

 Owls were very abundant and at one time I even 

 felt tempted to collect a specimen with my 

 twenty-two calibre revolver, the only gun I had 

 taken with me, but my aim was poor in the un- 

 certain light and this Bubo may still be enjoy- 

 ing his nightly raids and serenades. 



A little further along a fox ran across our 

 patli and trotted leisurely along- a short distance 

 ahead of us. The ball which was intended to 

 add his skin to our collection simply increased 

 his speed. 



While we were purchasing our provisions and 

 satisfying my thirst, which seemed to be ever- 

 lasting, the storm broke loose most violently 

 and this caused me to accept Mr. Sanders' in- 

 vitation to spend the night with him, which I 

 gladly did. A g-ood clean bed is at all times 

 preferable to a corn crib floor, particularly on a 

 rainy night, doubly so, when the roof of the 

 crib is leaky. 



We returned early the following morning and 

 were just in time to join Mr. Palmer in the cup 

 of coffee he had prepared and add crackers and 

 sweets to the meagre bill of fare. 



We found a pair of Kingfishers at this end of 

 the ditch and I am puzzled as to the whereabouts 

 of their breeding grounds, there being no bank- 

 anywhere near this place. Pine Warblers, birds 

 we" had not noted in the interior of the swamp 

 were also quite abundant in this place. 



