Birds op Wakulla County^ Florida 109 



NOTES ON BIRDS OF WAKULLA COUNTY, FLORIDA 



JOHN WILLIAMS, ST. MARKS, FLA, 



Wakulla County lies directly south of Leon County, 

 wherein is located our State Capital, St. Marks being 

 t\venty miles directly south from Tallahassee. 



The county covers about five hundred square miles and 

 has a frontage on the Oulf (Apalachee Bay) of about 

 twenty-five miles. 



The eastern portion of the county is traversed by the 

 St. Marks river, on which, eight miles up from the Gulf, our 

 little village is located. 



In general the surface of the county is a low coastal 

 plain of limestone formation, the greatest elevation about 

 sixty feet above sea-level. 



Large areas are covered with water at times of pro- 

 tracted rains. Sinks are numerous and in two instances 

 large streams appear directly from such openings. Sev- 

 eral sulphur springs occur. The soil is sand and sandy 

 loam. Cypress, Palmetto, Long-leaf and Pitch Pines, 

 Sweet Gum, Live Oaks and Water Oaks are the prevailing 

 trees in the lower sections, while in the higher hummocks 

 Red Oaks, White Oaks, Hickory and Dogwood are common 

 and on the sandy ridges Black Jack barrens occur. 



Farming, while practiced somewhat, has not advanced 

 greatly except in a few isolated cases. Turpentine indus- 

 try is quite general throughout the county. Vast marshes 

 line the coast and tidal streams and in many places the 

 so-called " Open Piney Woods " are little more than sparsely 

 timbered marshes. 



Commercial fishing is followed to a considerable ex- 

 tent along shore, St. Marks being the principal shipping 

 point, while seine yards are operated at a few places dur- 

 ing the months of October and November each year and 

 have some bearing on the abundance of certain species of 

 birds. 



