70 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 104 



beach, where Brown Pelicans, Black Skimmers and Gulls 

 love to congregate. Ship and Cat Islands, which separate the 

 Sound from the Gulf of Mexico proper, lie some fifteen 

 miles off shore and are of considerable size. 



Birdlife was fairly plentiful about Biloxi, though not very 

 rich in species. I believe the Killdeer and the Myrtle War- 

 bler were the most common birds seen. The Myrtle War- 

 blers — the natives seemed to know them by the name " Snow- 

 birds " — were found almost everywhere, but were seen most 

 along the water front flitting here and there among the oys- 

 ter shells. At first I was surprised to see them in such places, 

 but I soon discovered that these shells harbored any number 

 of small flies, which no doubt explained the Warblers pres- 

 ence among them. The " Dee-dee " of the Killdeer was an 

 ever-present sound. Great numbers of large Gulls — Herring 

 or Ring-billed — were always to be seen about the Sound and 

 Back Bay. Mockingbirds were common about the gardens 

 and lawns and were frequently heard singing. Blue Jays 

 were common. Red-headed and Downy Woodpeckers were 

 plentiful and a few Flickers were seen, but I was surprised 

 not to find the Red-bellied Woodpecker at Biloxi. A great 

 number of Fish Crows were seen. I believe all the crows 

 seen were of this species. Cardinals, Carolina Wrens and 

 Tufted Titmice were plentiful and in song at almost all 

 times. Chewinks and Brown Thrashers were common and 

 both singing. One House Wren and one Water-thrush were 

 seen. Carolina Chickadees and Pine Warblers were common 

 in the pine woods. One Catbird was noted and numbers of 

 Hermit Thrushes. A few Goldfinches were seen — a single 

 bird each time. Bluebirds were fairly common, and back in the 

 pine woods were found a few small flocks of Robins, which 

 were decidedly shy. Flocks of Red-wings and Crackles were 

 frequently seen. A few Meadowlarks and Kingfishers ; both 

 the Black Vulture and the Turkey Vulture ; one Marsh 

 Hawk and one Sparrow Hawk ; a number of small Fly- 

 catchers, all of which I took to be Phoebes ; a few Logger- 

 head Shrikes — known locallv as " Bull-head Mockingbird " ; 



