Vol. XVIII 

 1901 



I WiDMANN, ^ Visit to Audubon's Birthplace. ^53 



At the eastern edge of town a bayou joins its murky waters 

 with the lake, and vegetation is luxuriant in its realm. Hoary 

 water tupelos {^Nyssa uniflord) and long-whiskered cypresses 

 {Taxodinm distichmn) skirt its banks, and cat-tails, pitcher plants 

 and mud-plantains fill its bed. The Winter Wren has here his 

 home, and Swamp Sparrows keep him company. The Phoebe 

 pays them frequent visits. Black and Turkey Vultures are not 

 among the early risers ; several of them are still roosting lazily in 

 the tupelos, not more than twenty feet above the ground, in per- 

 fect unison, both species on one branch. 



Shining far through underbrush and timber the yellow jasmine 

 {Gehemium senipervirens) is seen to rear its fragrant golden flowers 

 on twining stem through bushes high up into trees. The shrub- 

 like red buckeye {^scuIhs pavia) grows here in clusters and is 

 far advanced. Its leaves are nearly of full size and some of its 

 flower buds are ready to break open ; only two days more of 

 warm, sunshiny weather and the first Hummingbird will suck its 

 nectar, as the opening of this flower is the signal for the appear- 

 ing of this impatient little midge. ^ 



Here we leave the lake shore and follow the road through 

 wooded, partly cultivated, land eastward. Reaching the corner 

 of an old worm fence, which encloses a large field, lately ploughed, 

 we stop to jot down a lot of species, some of which we have not 

 yet met to-day. Scattered through the weeds along the fence a 

 gathering of Fringillidse attracts our first attention. They are 

 mostly Field Sparrows, but there are others, too; there are Song 

 and Swamp Sparrows, Towhees, and White-throated Sparrows. 

 Through the fence rails slips a House Wren in and out, and from 

 a tangle of brambles comes the sharp alarm note of the Cardinal 

 and the eeorit of a Thrasher. Out on the ploughed ground thirty 

 or more small birds are walking, running, jumping, sometimes 

 taking short flights in pursuit of winged insects ; they are Pipits, 

 the animators of Louisianian winter scenery. But there are 

 other, larger birds near and among them, also running over the 

 ground and taking short flights ; these are Killdeers. While we 

 are still taking in the beauties of the landscape with its varied 



'The first Hummer was seen at Mandeville, March 3. 



