THE OOLOGIST. 



249 



guard the cross-roads; aud, as I wheeled 

 quietly by, he gave utterance to a sub- 

 dued croak, as if to demand of me, tlie 

 countersign. 



Tonawanda Swamp is a large and 

 extensive tract of some fifteen or 

 twentj' thousand acres of low, wet, 

 marshy, swampy, boggy, peat-bot- 

 tomed, mucky, wooded land, extending 

 in an easterly and westerly direction 

 for about twentj' miles, and lying along 

 the boundary line between Orleans and 

 Genesee counties. 



Its width varies at different points 

 from one to three miles. This immense 

 wilderness is six miles from Medina, 

 lying due south, — six miles as the crow 

 flies, or eleven miles as the wild duck 

 flies, — for the wild duck follows the 

 ■creek, which flows in letter S fashion 

 from the swamp to Medina. 



The main road leading into Medina 

 from the south runs through tliis 

 swamp at a point where its width is 

 nearly two miles, and this stretch of 

 road, bordered on either side by vast, 

 Tinljroken forests, furnishes not only a 

 pleasant ride, but, to anj^one at all in- 

 tei'ested in natural history, an overflow- 

 ing store-house of wonders. 



I don't remember the time when I 

 have passed over this two miles of road 

 and through these two miles of wilder- 

 ness without .seeing something new in 

 the bird line 



Bit I was going to say that my path 

 homeward on this afore-mentioued 

 morning lay through this swamp and 

 over this identical strip of road spoken 

 of. 



As I entered the confines of the 

 swamp, — what was that? 



I never had seen one before, but I 

 knew the party at sight, and a great 

 achievement it was to record a Blue 

 Jay in these parts, — for, although 

 abundant almost everywhere in the 

 United States, in this particular section 

 of Western New York the Blue Jay is a 

 negative quantity. 



The next thing noticed after the sen- 

 sation caused by the appearance of the 

 Blue Jay had passed l)y (as liad the Jay 

 himself) was a rustle in the bushes, — 

 and lo, — here were Rusty Blackbirds. 



If there were flocks flying overhead 

 in the open country, here in the swamp 

 were whole droves of them, — if hun- 

 dreds of them had been flying south- 

 ward high in air outside the woods, 

 here were thousands lingei'ing within 

 its swampy recesses. 



Tlie underbrush was thronged with 

 them, and the sombre hue of their rusty 

 plumage harmonized well with the 

 dying leaves and tinted foliage on 

 everv hand, — fit symbols of the dying 

 year. How appropriate these rusty 

 markings at this season of the ,year. 



I had thought, when I saw the num- 

 berless flocks of blackbirds flying over- 

 head that morning, that their number 

 was beyond estimation; but when I en- 

 countered this vast host in the swamp, 

 what numbers could approximate the 

 blackliirds that were southward-'.joiind 

 that day? 



. Surely, of all that year, Oetol^er 21st, 

 was the day for Rustj- Bhickhirds. 



But I will desist, and give my readers 

 no further pain. 



I have led them in a round aliout way 

 over the country, — through swamps 

 aud elsewliere. I have told them about 

 a morning ride, a heavy fi-ost, a great 

 l)ig swamp, and a mullein-stalk, and 

 all this under the title of "L'nsty Black- 

 birds,'''' while a small portion of mj- 

 article only has been in relaiiou to my 

 sul).iect. 



What a wandering, soaring article, 

 and what a wandering, soaring vriterl 

 I fancy I hear the read<'r saying. All 

 very well, but if we call the writer 

 foolish, what shall we sny of him who 

 has been so imposetl upon as lo waste 

 his time in reading this? 



That's all. Good-l)y. 



Scolero2)hafp/s caroUniis is advertised. 

 Neil Fkanklin Fosson. 



Medina, N. Y. 



P. S. Having severed my editorial 

 connection with the OoLOGiST, I feel 

 per.'eetly free to impose u;)on its 

 readers with the foregoing mann^crint 



N. F. P.' 



