° i9i5 J Kennabd, On the Trail of the Ivory-bill. 7 



about four miles away, where there was an isolated grove of orange 

 and grapefruit trees belonging to Mr. Frank Van Agnew of Kissim- 

 mee, Florida, who had very kindly offered me all the hospitality 

 possible. This grove really was the objective point of our expedi- 

 tion, for it was here in 190S, that a friend of mine had seen Ivory- 

 bills, and had presented me with the skin of a beautiful male as a 

 proof that these rare birds were still to be found in southern Florida. 

 On the trail, which led through a fairly dry and more or less 

 open country, we saw several deer and numerous turkeys, several 

 bunches of Quail, and one Great Crested Flycatcher, besides the 

 usual number of warblers, woodpeckers, etc. 



Upon arriving at Van Agnew's, we found, on the edge of the open 

 pine woods, a very comfortable three room bungalow with an 

 open hallway and piazza, built of cypress and set upon posts 

 about six feet above the ground, which at certain seasons of the 

 year is under water. A short distance away, across an open space 

 and a piece of pretty wet cypress swamp, was the hammock, with 

 about ten acres above flood level planted with a very healthy look- 

 ing grove of trees. Somebody had been there ahead of us and 

 abstracted the oranges. The grapefruit were however still there, 

 the trees loaded with them ; and they tasted very good to us after 

 the villainous water that we had been forced to drink for the last 

 few days. Distances are great in Florida and the natives do not 

 think much of them. It has been customary to drag this fruit to 

 market sixty miles by ox team. 



I had come on ahead of the rest of the party, and while waiting 

 for them, put in my time exploring the grove. On my entrance a 

 whole flock of turkeys rose just in front of me, lit in some live oaks 

 at the edge of the swamp, and I was lucky enough to knock over 

 two of them with my rifle. 



The ground, except for little circles, which had been cultivated 

 immediately about the trees, was waist high with a luxuriant 

 growth of weeds, which were reported to be full of rattlers. The 

 surrounding swamp I knew to be full of moccasins, and the prospect 

 was creepy. There were a few cabbage palms and live oaks 

 scattered through the grove, and about the edge of the clearing 

 was an almost impenetrable jungle of live oaks, underbrush, vines, 

 etc., which gradually merged into the more open cypress swamp 



