February Birdlife 69 



Orleans. Louisiana claims the great Audubon as a native 

 and one hears his name everywhere about the city of New 

 Orleans. Except for the Herring- Gulls seen about the river 

 no birds were noted, but I visited the Louisiana? State ]\Iu- 

 seum and met Mr. Alfred M. Bailey, the ornithologist there, 

 who showed me many interesting things. I also met ]\Ir. S. 

 C. Arthur, Louisiana State Ornithologist, who presented me 

 with a copy of his recent list of " The Birds of Louisiana." 

 To these two gentlemen I wish to express my thanks for 

 many courtesies extended. 



On February 1st I left New Orleans for Biloxi, Mississ- 

 ippi. As you travel east from New Orleans on the Louis- 

 ville & Nashville R. R. you traverse one continuous stretch 

 of marsh and salt meadows. From the train windows I 

 noted numbers of Herring Gulls ; a few ducks ; any number 

 of Grebes, mostly in bunches of from three to six, some of 

 them were quite shy, while others did not seem to mind the 

 train in the least ; occasional flocks of Blackbirds ; one Great 

 Blue Heron, and several small Herons that I was unable to 

 identify. After crossing Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, we 

 strike the first high ground east of New Orleans. Here we 

 come upon patches of pines and cultivated fields, pecan or- 

 chards and grand old Live Oaks with their festoons of grey 

 moss. 



The following three weeks, February 1st to February 20th, 

 were spent at Biloxi, Mississippi, from which point I ex- 

 plored most of the extreme southern end of Harrison 

 County. The town of Biloxi is situated upon Mississippi 

 Sound. It is built upon a point of land and is almost sur- 

 rounded by salt water. The principal industry of the place 

 at this season of the year is oyster canning and the water 

 front is rich in piles of oyster shells and there are fine shell 

 roads running back into the country. Mississippi Sound is 

 quite shallow here and the little oyster schooners have to 

 make many turns coming into the harbor. Deer Island lies 

 about a mile off shore. This island is a long narrow strip of 

 land with a small pine grove in the center and much sandy 



