THE OSPREY. 



69 



The return trip was much easier owing to the 

 increase of water in the ditch due to the rain of 

 the previous night. The coolness of the atmos- 

 phere seemed also to somewhat lessen the ac- 

 tivities of mosquitos and flies, for which we 

 were duly thankful. We succeeded in getting a 

 good ducking from a sudden shower, just before 

 we reached the hotel, but our spirits were good 

 and we really enjoyed even this bit of expe- 

 rience. 



That night we packed our contraptions, and 

 the following morning found us paddling with 

 a steady stroke up Jericho Ditch to meet the ap- 

 pointment with our driver. It was a drizzling 

 day, a day well suited for a long pull, provided 

 you are dressed lightly enough not to mind the 

 moist garments, and we were. 



We arrived in due time, adding a female W 1 



Duck, with her flock of young ducklings, to our 

 list of swamp inhabitants, just before we left 

 its bounds. 



We were well pleased with our week's sojourn 

 in this part of the country and sorry indeed 1" 

 part from the region which had given us so 

 many delightful moments as well as expe- 

 riences to the contrary, and almost wished that 

 we might return to this home of solitude and 

 simplicity, to camp again on the edge of beau- 

 tiful Lake Drumtnond. 



We now append a list of birds observed on the 

 two summer trips into the swamp. 



Florida Cormorant. 



Wood Duck. 



Great Blue Heron. 



Green Heron. 



Woodcock. 



Turkey Buzzard. 



Red-shouldered Hawk. 



Florida Barred Owl, 



Great Homed Owl. 



Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 



King Fisher. 



Red-bellied Woodpecker. 



Downy Woodpecker. 



Hairy Woodpecker. 



Pileated Woodpecker. 



Chimney Swift. 



Ruby-throated Hummer. 



Kingbird. 



Great Crested Fl}'catcher. 



Acadian Flycatcher. 



Wood Pewee. 



(.'row. 



Towhee Bunting. 



Cardinal. 



Barn Swallow. 



Purple Martin. 



Waxwing. 



Red-eyed Vireo. 



Warbling Vireo. 



White-eyed Vireo. 



Black and White Creeper. 



Pi' ithonotary Warbler. 



Swainson's Warbler. 



Worm-eating Warbler. 



Parula Warbler. 



Yellow Warbler. 



Yellow-throated Warbler. 



Pine Warbler. 



Prairie Warbler. 



Oven Bird. 



Louisana Water Thrush. 



Maryland Yellow-throat. 



Florida Yellow-throat. 



Yellow-breasted Chat. 



Hooded Warbler. 



Redstart. 



Cat Bird. 



House Wren. 



Can ilina Wren. 



Nuthatch. 



Tufted Tit. 



Carolina Chickadee. 



Wood Thrush. 



A CANOE TRIP UP THE SAN JUAN RIVER, MEXICO, IN SEARCH OF BIRDS. 

 By Percy Shufei.dt, Washington, D. C. 



The second of January last was one of those 

 cold bleak days when the wind seems to enter 

 the very inmost cracks and crevices of your 

 body- -on such a day our steamer sailed from 

 New York bearing the tricolor of Mexico at the 

 peak of her fore-mast, nor did we leave this 

 inhospitable weather, with its flock of crying 

 gulls, until the third day out, when I awoke to 

 feel, yes! to smell, the soft sea air which always 

 reminds the accustomed traveler of the coast of 

 Virginia in early May, blowing softly through 

 the port-hole of my stateroom. 



Havana, our first landing place, impressed me 

 at once by its lack of bird life. From here we 

 made for the Gulf Coast of Mexico; Mexico, the 

 Land of Birds. In a howling "norther," with 

 the waves breaking over our deck, we crept 

 behind the protecting jetties of Vera Cruz. I 

 remained long enough to get my outfit through 

 the Custom House, and made at once for my 



stopping place, Tlacotalpan, a village in the 

 state of Vera Cruz on the San Juan River. 



Tlacotalpan is one of the most beautiful little 

 cities that I have ever seen in Mexico; with its 

 streets of velvet green, its red tiled multicolored 

 houses, and its stately palms, it presents a pic- 

 ture long' retained in memory. 



My little house here was the scene of much 

 hard work and constant desire to see my com- 

 panion and fellow worker, Mr. A. E. Colburn 

 who was to join me here. Three weeks had 

 passed when, on my way to the Post Office, a 

 stout brown-faced American yelled "Hey there!" 

 as I passed. In a moment I was shaking hands 

 with Colburn, much browner, much stronger 

 than when he had left me three months before 

 in Washington; with him was Mr. H. C. Moore, 

 the African hunter and collector, who had first 

 taken me to Mexico. In less time than it takes 

 me to tell, we were all at my house, where soon 



