BARREL-HOUSE BLIND 



the dredging of great ditches through the low- 

 lands letting the water off caused the glory of 

 the Kankakee Marshes to depart. I only wish 

 I had the ability to describe and make you feel 

 the beauty of these marsh islands to those of 

 my readers who may not have seen them. Pic- 

 ture the prairie marshes for miles and miles in 

 length and from two to twelve miles in width 

 and dotted with hundreds of small islands and 

 ridges containing from one-half to twenty acres. 

 The one that we were camped upon contained 

 about four acres. The lofty sycamore with its 

 white bark can be seen for miles as they rose 

 above the mammoth oak and down from its 

 limbs dropped ropes of creeping grape-vines, 

 while there were many others covered with huc- 

 kleberry bushes. There were many different 

 species of birds which inhabited these islands. 

 Among the game birds were several species of 

 the snipe family which nests and rears its young 

 during the nesting season. The wood-duck also 

 also inhabited these islands and a half dozen or 



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