2 WASTE-LAND WANDERINGS. 



reminders that civilization was near at hand were 

 quickly out of sight and hearing as mj boat rounded 

 an abrupt bend of the creek and entered a little forest 

 of linden, hickory, and hornbeam. A few scattered 

 trees of other kinds are also to be seen, but those I 

 have named so far predominate that if each crook in 

 the creek's channel must have a name, then we will call 

 this one Linden Bend; and here, at sunrise, July 29, 

 1885, 1 commenced these studies of Mechen-tschiholens- 

 sipu (Big Bird Creek). 



The dense foliage of the stately lindens and hicko- 

 ries, and the filling-in of every interspace by the horn- 

 beams, throws so dark a shadow as to give to the spot a 

 gloomy aspect; yet it is very attractive. Where the 

 channel narrows, so that the branches of the trees upon 

 its banks are closely interlocked, the sunlight is excluded 

 during summer and early autumn, often for considera- 

 ble distances. Flowers are wanting, except when the 

 rank May-apple .is in bloom, and later the honey-sweet 

 blossoms of the linden scent the air and draw millions 

 of bees from all the countr}^ round. The humming of 

 these creatures, as they are busy in the branches over- 

 head, drowns all other sound, dulling even the clear 

 whistling of the crested tit, and by its monotony adds, 

 in early summer, to the gloom of Linden Bend. 



I have said there were no flowers : the scattered dog- 

 woods must not be overlooked. Early or late in April, 

 as the weather permits, these sturdy growths fling their 

 torn, milk-white banners to the breeze. They are not 

 always, however, signals that the warfare of the seasons 



