4S0 Wright \\n Harper, The Birds of Okefinokee Swamp. [o" ( k 



Doubtless the first ornithologist to see the real Okefinokee was 

 Mr. C. F. Batchelder, who, about twenty-five years ago, entered 

 on the eastern side and went as far as Black Jack Island, where 

 he remained a day or two. 



Maurice Thompson's writings contain some interesting references 

 to the Okefinokee. His observations on the nesting of the Ivory- 

 billed Woodpecker, so delightfully described in 'A Red-headed 

 Family," 1 were made ' in one of those shallow cypress lakes of which 

 the larger part of the Okefinokee region is formed '; and he remarks 

 further that 'Near by, to the westward, lay one of those great 

 gloomy swamps, so common in southeastern Georgia, so repellant 

 and yet so fascinating, so full of interest to the naturalist, and yet so 

 little explored.' What appear to have been later experiences with 

 the Ivorybill in the same locality are recounted in ' An Archer's So- 

 journ in the Okefinokee."-' In this paper, however, he states that his 

 locus Avas exactly twenty miles southeast from Blackshear, Ga., 

 on a branch of the Satilla; and this places it in or near an area 

 sometimes known as Little Okefinokee Swamp, which is entirely 

 separate from the real Okefinokee, and miles distant from it. In 

 'My Winter Garden,' s also, Thompson speaks casually of having 

 been 'deep in the Okefinokee'; and yet it is almost inconceivable 

 that he could have seen for himself the marvels of the swamp's 

 interior without treating them extensively with his gifted pen. 



In August, 1902, R. M. Harper and P. L. Richer spent two days 

 in the swamp, devoting their attention chiefly to botanical explora- 

 tion. They traversed the whole length of the canal and made a 

 side trip to Bugaboo Island. The former has published the most 

 complete account 4 of the swamp that has yet appeared. Not only 

 this article but also Dr. Harper's notes on the plants have helped 

 us in the preparation of the present paper. 



Prof. Albert M. Reese, while studying the breeding habits of 

 the alligator, visited the Okefinokee in the summers of L905 and 

 1900, on the second occasion ' penetrating the swamp to its centre.' 5 



» Thompson. Maurice. By-ways and Bird Xotes. New York. 1885, pp. 23-39. 



2 Atlantic Monthly. 1. XXV 11. April. 1896, pp. 4SG-491. 



3 My Winter Harden. New York, 1900, p. 222. 



♦Harper, R. M. Okefinokee Swamp. Popular Science Monthly, LXXIV, 

 June. 1909, pp. 596-614. 



i Reese, A. M.. smith. Misc. Colls., XLVIII, 1907, Quart. Issue, Vol. Ill, 

 Part 4, pp. 381, 382. 



