288 Sketches of Some Common Birds. 



among the reeds and rushes in quest of unfamiliar species — 

 is worth the while of any friend of nature who can find a 

 period of leisure from the routine of life. 



There is a characteristic similarity in the appearance of 

 the so-called lakes which occupy the bottom lands border- 

 ing all the water-courses of any importance in the Mis- 

 sissippi Valley. These lakes in the drier seasons of the 

 year are merely great swamps, often so dry that the 

 ground is hard and baked, and the rank growth of flags 

 has become browned and blasted by the heat of the summer 

 sun. Grenerally there is a central area of open water, of 

 more or less extent, stagnant and green with the moss 

 that grows in most of these lakes. Floating on the mossy- 

 green surface are the large round leaves of the lilies, 

 dotted everywhere with the spreading white blossoms in 

 late May and June. Around this spot of open water gen- 

 erally is a zone of green flags, growing in water of vary- 

 ing depth, seldom exceeding two or three feet after the 

 spring rise of the water has subsided. The width of the 

 growth of green flags varies with the slope of the ground 

 or margin surrounding the swamp. Such a swamp-lake, 

 with its open patches of water and the fringing zones of 

 flags, is a typical breeding-place for many of the inland 

 water birds, and there the student of birds, who has been 

 limited in his observations to the dry prairie regions, can 

 become acquainted with species he will rarely meet else- 

 where. 



Along the bank of the river we shall find many of the 

 birds we have met and studied in other localities; and in 

 making our way into the real swamps we are often called 

 to notice birds common in other resorts. Some of the 

 birds found near the river-bank, however, are at home 

 only amid such surroundings ; and if our visit be made at 

 the time of the spring freshets, we shall be afforded the 

 opportunity to study several species then seen in their 

 most favorable circumstances. After the melting of the 

 ice at the close of winter, and after the heavy rains so 

 common in this region in the early spring, the rivers in 

 these prairie States overflow their banks and for a time 

 spread out over the wide bottoms, gradually subsiding 

 until they barely fill their channels. Thus the lowlands 



