BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY. 37 



edges of the marsh. The second region is that of the salt-grass or marsh hay 

 (Puccinellia maritima and Spartina patens), a region reached by the tides once 

 or twice a month at full and new moon. This grass rarely grows more than 

 ten or twelve inches in height. It is regularly cut and harvested, and brought off 

 on poles carried by men, or in hay-boats along the creeks, or left in huge cocks, 

 elevated on small piles, — " staddles " as they are called, — to be taken off on 

 sledges when the marsh is frozen. In cutting the grass, mowing-machines are 

 used except in the soft places, and the horses wear broad, wooden marsh-shoes. 

 Among the salt-grass grow patches of samphire (Salicornia herbacea). The 

 marsh rosemary {Staticc limoniutn, var. caroliniana) is common, and the grass- 

 like, seaside plantain (P/antago decipiens). The third region is the upper edge of 

 the marsh where it joins the uplands, a region visited only by the unusual spring 

 and autumn tides. Here grows the " black-grass," in reality a rush (Juncus 

 gerardi), which gives the edges a distinctly dark color, almost black when the 

 rush is in fruit. In this region also, or just above it, one may find patches of 

 the delicious sweet-grass {Hicrocliloe borealis), while the silver-weed {Potcntilla 

 ansa ina), seaside gerardia {Gerardia maritima), and seaside golden-rod {Soli- 

 dago sempervirens) also flourish. In the channels of the creeks grows the eel- 

 grass (Zostera marina) commonly mistaken for a seaweed but in reality a flow- 

 ering plant. This is cast up by the tides with the thatch and is used by a 

 number of birds in nest-building. 



One of the picturesque features of these marshes in the autumn months 

 is the herring fishery. This is carried on in the creeks and waterways by night. 

 A flaming torch in the bow of the boat attracts the herring, which are then 

 dipped up with a hand-net, and many barrels full are taken in a single night. 

 A fisherman related to me an unpleasant experience he once had from a Duck 

 flying towards the dazzling torch, and striking him full in the face. Two black- 

 ened eyes resulted from this chance acquaintance. 



In various places in the marsh, where the drainage is poor, the water and 

 dead thatch collect and kill the grass, forming mudflats and pools, or "sloughs " 

 as they are generally called in the good old English of Bunyan. These are the 

 favorite resorts for the shore birds and the gunners. 



The delicate greens of the marsh in early spring, with the ribbons and basins 

 of blue water, constantly swelling and dwindling with the changing tides, the 

 deeper greens and brilliant yellows and browns of midsummer, the rich chestnuts 

 of autumn with the scarlet patches of samphire, the faded browns and arctic ice 

 formation of winter, — all give an indescribable charm to the salt marshes. 



In the salt creeks and at the mouths of the rivers, nearly all of the sea 

 birds are at times to be found, and it is not necessary to repeat here the list 

 already given. While the Gulls and Terns, during the summer, prefer the 



