488 Wright and Harper, The Birds of Okefinokee Swamp. [bet. 



The bears wander from ' head ' to ' head ' across the prairies, and 

 in the sphagnum bordering the 'heads' are seen the trails, or so- 

 called 'slides,' of otters (Lufra hudsonica). Among the water-lilies 

 abound ribbon snakes (Eutacnia Sttckenii), killifishes (Funduliis and 

 Gambusia), and several species of frogs (Chorophilus, Acris, Hyla 

 and Rana), whose evening chorus is one of the features of the 

 swamp. In some of the deeper parts, which are either naturally 

 free of vegetation or kept clear by alligators (Alligator mississippien- 

 sis) and hence called "gator holes' — there are also southern 

 soft-shelled turtles and warmouths (Chccnobryttus gulosus). These 

 parts are a foraging ground for the Water-Turkey, Wood Duck, 

 and Fish Hawk. Ward's Heron, the American Egret, the Little 

 Blue Heron, the Green Heron, and the Sandhill Crane feed where 

 the water is not too deep, and in dry seasons these and other waders 

 doubtless occur on the prairies in much larger numbers than we 

 found them during the period of exceptionally high water in 1912. 

 The Florida Redwing nests here among the aquatic plants rising 

 above the surface. 



Watercourses. (Plate XVIII.) This habitat may be considered 

 to include all the bodies of open water in the swamp, among which 

 may be mentioned Billy's Lake, Minne's Lake, the Big Water, the 

 abandoned logging canal, Buzzard Lake, Gannet Lake, and the 

 upper courses of the Suwannee River. (See map.) The surface 

 of the water in the swamp varies in level as much as 15 feet between 

 various points. Consequently, throughout most of the swamp 

 there is a perceptible current in the direction of the Suwannee 

 River; it is especially noticeable in the narrow 'runs' or water 

 trails that afford the only means of traversing the cypress ' bays ' 

 by boat. Most of the lakes are simply wider and deeper parts 

 of these 'runs'; and Billy's Lake, the largest body of water in the 

 Okefinokee, is probably not over a hundred yards in its greatest 

 width. (The width of some of the lakes is unavoidably exagger- 

 ated in the map.) Yellow water-lilies or 'bonnets' (Nymphaea 

 macrophyUa) form an abundant and characteristic growth in the 

 'runs' and along the borders of the lakes; the swamp loose-strife 

 (Decodou vcrticillata) and purple bladderwort (Utricularia purpurea) 

 are also found here. 



Some of the characteristic vertebrate forms of the water courses 



