THE 



WILSON BULLETIN 



NO. 101 



A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY 

 VOL. XXIX DEC, 1917 NO. 4 



OLD SERIES VOL. XXIX. NEW SERIES VOL. XXTV. 



A DAY WITH THE BIRDS OF A HOOSIER SWAMP. 

 By Barton Warrren Evermann. 



Have yon ever realized how interesting a small swamp 

 may prove to any one who takes the trouble to look at it? 

 Or what a fascinating story it has for him who makes friends 

 with it and tries to learn its secrets? 



I fear you never have. Not because you would not like to 

 know, but perhaps because no one has ever tried to interest 

 you in swamps. Most people look upon a swamp merely as 

 a useless, unproductive piece of ground where snakes and 

 mosquitoes and frogs abound; where horses and cattle mire; 

 where one gets wet and covered with vile-smelling mud 

 should he venture therein. 



This is what those think and say who do not really know 

 swamps; who view them with prejudiced eye. But let us 

 take a trip to one of our small Hooisier swamps and try to 

 learn its ways. There are thousands of them in the state, all 

 much alike in many respects, yet each possessing peculiari- 

 ties, a personality I may say, of its own. Let us go to the 

 old Maple Swamp. 



Flowing westward through the southern part of Carroll 

 County, Indiana, is a small creek called Middle Fork. Not 

 far from where it is crossed by the Vandalia Railroad it 

 widens out very much, almost losing its identity. Its banks 

 are ill-defined. There is no definite channel, or else the chan- 



