In addition to the Rails, the most characteristic summer birds of the 

 marshes are the Sharp-tailed and Seaside Sparrows, which breed 

 ev'erywhere in abundance. These three birds constitute the entire 

 bird life of the salt marshes in summer, with the exception of a few 

 Herons which resort there to feed. Nearer the mainland, however,, 

 where the water is not so salt and patches of cat-tails occur, Marsh 

 Wrens, Red-winged Blackbirds and other species may be found 

 breeding. 



The Common Tern and Laughing Gull used to share the marshes 

 with the Rails and Sparrows during the breeding season, but along 

 with the Piping Plovers, Least Terns and Skimmers which used to 

 breed regularly along the New Jersey coast, they have almost en- 

 tirely disappeared, and only a few pairs are now to be seen during 

 the summer. 



The Pine Barrens — Behind the marshes and occupying all of 

 southern New Jersey, south of a line from Long Branch to Salem, 

 lies the characteristic Pine Barren Region — the northern extremity 

 of the great Atlantic Plain. This is a low, flat, sandy district, varied 

 here and there with outcrops of yellow gravel and with numerous 

 swamps scattered about throughout its extent. Some portions are 

 mere dry wastes of loose sand supporting a scant grow^th of low Pines 

 and Scrub Oaks, while in other sections are vast forests of tall Pitch 

 Pines {Pinus rigidd). Here and there are open cranberry bogs and 

 small tracts of cultivated land. 



In the forests the Pine Warbler is the most characteristic species 

 of bird, while several species of Woodpeckers and the Great Horned 

 Owls here find a congenial home. In the lower scrub growth, es- 

 pecially on the borders of the swamps, Chewinks and Prairie Warblers 

 abound, together with AVood Pewees and Kingbirds. 



The Cedar Swamps — The swamps, however, harbor the great- 

 est variety of birds, and furnish a most interesting field for the 

 ornithologist. 



These swamps are generally covered with a dense growth of White 

 Cedar {^ChamcEcyparis thyoides), mingled here and there with 

 patches of Red Maple, Pepper Bush {Clethra alnifolia), Magnolia 

 {M. glauca) and Holly, making an almost impenetrable jungle. 

 Here and there occur shallow ponds or lakes, which seem to have 

 overflowed considerable areas of older thickets. The dead and 

 rotten branches of the submerged trees and bushes everywhere raise 

 their gaunt shapes from the dark water stained with the accumu- 



