ALONG THE STREAM 247 



veritable fern gardens. The exceedingly dainty 

 spleenwort (Asplenium dentatum) often covers the 

 damp rocks and walls of the grottoes and in places 

 its delicate fronds are so crowded that they com- 

 pletely hide the surface of the rock on which they 

 grow. They form a most elaborate and dainty 

 tapestry. 



Along the upper reaches we find more prairie 

 but the vegetation differs from that of the brack- 

 ish glades farther down. A few plants only are 

 identical and among these is the saw grass (Cla- 

 dium effusum) and a tall, striking reed (Phragmites 

 communis) which is found in Bermuda, Europe, 

 and throughout the eastern United States. It 

 bears large, handsome panicles of purplish flowers 

 which have a satiny sheen, and broad, glaucous 

 leaves. Sometimes one may see the smaller mink 

 (probably Putorius nigrescens) scurrying across an 

 open space or slipping gracefully into the water. 

 A pair of them lived in the lowland in front of 

 my house and they appeared to subsist chiefly on 

 land crabs. These they catch and after biting 

 off most of their claws and legs they play with 

 them, tossing them in the air and catching them 

 as a cat does a mouse. More rarely a coon is 



