THE IPSWICH SPARROW. I3 



eastern end of the island are so covered that when softened b}' a veil of fog 

 the effect is not unlike that of the rolling prairie lands of the West. The 

 Crowberry is the more abundant and the more generally distributed of 

 the two species. Rose bushes, apparently Rosa nitida Willd., and 

 blueberry bushes, apparently Vaccinhim pennsylvanicum Lam., abound, 

 especially in the vicinity of the little ponds, where all vegetation is more 

 luxuriant and where late in the season great beds of roses are to be 

 seen. Large numbers of Cranberries {^Schollcra macrocarpa (Ait.)) 

 grow wild, and the yearly crop that is gathered amounts sometimes to 

 several himdred barrelfuls. From the trailing vines in the damp hollows 

 among the hills the large and juicy berries of last 3^ear were still to be 

 gathered at the time of my visit. The blueberry bushes were blossom- 

 ing the second week in June, many of the tiny sprigs trailing in the sand, 

 partly covered by it, and the leaf buds of the rose bushes were little more 

 than half unfolded. Strawberries {Fragaria canadensis Michx.) grow 

 in profusion, and the plants were in full blossom during my stay. The 

 Partridgeberry {Miickclla rcpcns L.), the Bunchberry {Cornus cana- 

 densis L.) and the Bayberry {lifyrica cerifcra L.) are also found. 



No trees grow on Sable Island, and efforts to introduce them have 

 proved futile. To be sure a stunted willow bush stands in the superin- 

 tendent's dooryard, protected by a board fence, but each winter the icy 

 winds nip the few shoots that dare to push above this shelter. All the 

 bushes of every kind are much dwarfed, few of tliem reaching half way to 

 the knee, but forming very dense clumps in sheltered situations. Frequently 

 the clumps catch the drifting sand ; grass, weeds, and moss soon find a foot- 

 hold, and some day a turfy hummock is the result. This perhaps gradually 

 extends its limits and joins its neighbor, and in the course of time the charac- 

 teristic hummocky ground of certain parts of the island is formed. At the 

 time of my arrival all looked bare and brown. Before my departure nearly 

 tlie whole surface had acquired a visibly greener tinge with here and there the 

 ruddy glow of blossoming Sorrel {Riimex acctoscUa L.), while such weeds 

 as the Beacli Pea (^Lathy^-iis maritinms (L.)), Everlasting {Gnajf)halium 

 sp.?), and Meadow-rue (Thalictruni sp.?) were becoming conspicuous. 

 Blue violets ( Viola obliqua Hill) and white ones ( V. lanccolata L.) were 

 abundant, and many inconspicuous plants were pushing above the ground 

 and unfolding their early buds or blossoms, the majority of them too young 

 for accurate determination. This is to be regretted, for my specimens 

 show that not less tiian forty species occur. Several mosses and lichens 

 are found, among them a Sphagnum. Eel-grass {Zosicra marina L.) 

 abounds in the lagoon, and occurs as drift along its shores, associated 

 with green filmy sheets of Sea Lettuce ( Ulva sp. ?) that soon become 



