220 WiDMANN, Baird^s and Lcconie's Sparrotvs. Tf"'^ 



grasses and weeds which grow in profusion. Parts are used for 

 pasturing, and the whole landscape is richly dotted with trees, 

 singly and in groups, mostly pin oaks, and honey locusts, with 

 clusters of persimmons, which, shooting up as thickly as weeds, 

 are a peculiar feature of the landscape. 



It is seven a. m., and the point of observation is a clump of 

 locusts at the southeast border of the lake, so as to have the sun- 

 light in the back. It is well to be in the shade ; the October sun 

 is pretty warm, even at this early hour. We had 80° F. yesterday 

 and to-day promises to be still warmer. 



Mud Lake, as the name implies, is not more than knee-deep, 

 but last month's rain caused a rise of six inches, and the water 

 now covers about 200 acres. It is entirely overgrown with 

 spatter dock in the deeper places, with smartweed in shallower 

 water, and all around its edge for a varying width. Encircling the 

 regular expanse of water is a fringe of low willows and elbow 

 wood, mostly dead and crumbling, killed by fire some years ago. 

 In back of the willow fringe begins the endless ocean of marsh 

 grasses, mainly Spartina cynosi/roides, growing on damper ground 

 as high as six feet; in drier situations it is lower, and in some is 

 entirely overgrown with boneset and a few other weeds, mostly of 

 the family Compositae. 



A second circle of treegrowth, back of the willow circle, is 

 composed principally of honey locusts, which are at this moment 

 very conspicuous objects all over the landscape through the 

 golden yellow of all their leaves. The pin oaks are still green, 

 with only the tops and outer tips of branches turning crimson,, 

 affording quite an ornament to the monotony of the marsh, which 

 has at present a sombre yellow cast over the higher grasses while 

 the predominance of Eupatorium covers the lower grasses with a 

 hoary mantle. The smartweed region is still green but with a 

 strong admixture of yellow and brown shades. The shriveling 

 spatter docks form a sadly withering, shapeless mass of gray and 

 brown tints, though partly trampled down by cattle and thus 

 exposing large patches of open water. The lake is on club 

 grounds, but in hot weather duck shooting is at a discount, and 

 in days like this, when no hunter appears on the scene, we and 

 the birds have the srround all to ourselves. 



