DELAWARE VALLEY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 29 



of Martha's Vineyard. If we may represent the usual song of 

 this bird by the oft-quoted syllables " Witch'-er-yl Witch'-er-y! 

 Witch'-er-y!" then the call of the exceptional individuals would 

 be expressed by the differently -accented syllables, ' ' Witch-er'-y ! 

 Witch-er'-y! Witch-ei-'-y!" So great was the effect produced by 

 this apparently simple variation, that on more than one occasion 

 the writer was misled into the search for a rare bird by what 

 finally revealed itself in the form of a Maryland Yellow-throat. 



In direct contrast to the cedar swamps are the so-called 

 "plains." These are locally known as the East and West 

 Plains, and are situated on the border between Ocean and Bur- 

 lington Counties. It is in these spots that the Barrens reach 

 their most emphasized form. 



As we near the plains the scrub oak, which had been decreas- 

 ing noticeably in size ever since leaving White Horse, now sinks 

 to waist, and then knee-high. A singular region, hot, level, 

 dry. We wade into the scrub scarce able to believe that it is 

 over the top of a dwarf forest that we are gazing for miles. Its 

 barrenness, except for the stunted vegetation, recalls vividly to 

 our mind long forgotten descriptions of desert regions. The 

 heat rising from the parched ground gives a blur of uncer- 

 tainty to distant outlines, and we close our eyes involuntarily 

 before the glare of the sun on the exposed gravel areas. Che- 

 winks and Brown Thrashers scuffle listless in the dry soil. A 

 mere speck in the open sky, a Turkey Vulture, circles lazily for 

 a time, then drops from view beyond the horizon. A httle tree- 

 lizard at our step scurries across a gravel patch and disappears 

 under the dry leaves. The only other sound of life is the 

 weary, vibrant trill of the Prairie Warbler, which rises on the 

 hot air like a supplication for life. 



Bird life on the East Plains was represented by the Chewink, 

 Prairie Warbler, Field Sparrow, Brown Thrasher and Maryland 

 Yellow-throat. Had it not been for the writer's previous expe- 

 rience in the scrub oak regions on the Island of Martha's Vine- 

 yard, the presence of the two last species would have been 

 puzzling, to say the least. To all appearance the Maryland 

 Yellow-throat was at much at home among the dry scrub, miles 

 from water, as he would have been in the most tangled briers 

 of the cedar swamp. 



