THE BUZZARD OF THE BEAR SWAMP 81 



My buzzard now was hardly more than half a mile ,' ', 

 , away, and plainly seen through the rifts in the lofty f I 

 t . timbered roof above me. As I was nearing the top ( / 

 of a large fallen pine that lay in my course, I was^ 

 startled by the burrh! burrh! burrh! of three par-' .' 

 tridges taking wing just beyond, near the foot of / 

 1 the tree. Their exploding flight seemed all the more j 

 like a real explosion when three little clouds of dust-| 

 Asmoke rose out of the low, wet bottom of the swampp 

 Jancl drifted up against the green. 



Then I saw an interesting sight. The pine, in its^- 

 fall, had snatched with its wide-reaching, multitudi- 1 

 nous roots at the shallow bottom and torn out a giant 

 fistful of earth, leaving a hole about two feet deep and 

 jmore than a dozen feet wide. The sand thus lifted 

 J into the air had gradually washed down into a mound 

 \ on each side of the butt, where it lay high and dry 

 ) above the level of the wet swamp. This the swamp j 

 ij birds had turned into a great dust-bath. It was in 

 ) constant use, evidently. Not a spear of grass had 

 sprouted in it, and all over it were pits and craters 

 lof various sizes, showing that not only the partridges 

 but also the quail and such small things as the 

 iwarblers bathed here, though I can't recall ever 

 ^having seen a warbler bathe in the dust. A dry bath 

 'in the swamp was something of a luxury, evidently. 

 I wonder if the buzzards used it? 



I went forward cautiously now, and expectantly, 

 I \ for I was close enough to see the white beak and\ 



