3 8 Brewster on Florida Birds. 



WITH THE BIRDS ON A FLORIDA RIVER. 



BY WILLIAM BREWSTER. 



( )n the 19th ot" March, 187^". the writer, in company with a 

 friend, took passage on a little freight steamer which at long and 

 irregular intervals ascended the Wekiva River with supplies for 

 the few settlers at its source. The " Fox" certainly bore a most 

 inappropriate name, for her best speed was but little over four 

 miles an hour. She was. in fact, an old flat-boat, square at each 

 end, after the usual fashion of her kind, and equipped with a 

 small engine, which, judging from its dilapidated appearance, 

 had probably spent its best years in some saw-mill among the 

 pineries. But from her light draught and 'low hull the rude 

 craft was by no means ill-adapted to the navigation of a stream 

 impeded b\ shallows and choked with fallen timber. 



After spending a tedious day in the descent of the St. Johns 

 River from Mellonville we entered the Wekiva just as the sun 

 was setting and at once found ourselves surrounded by scenery of 

 the most novel and beautiful character. 



The short twilight of a Florida evening soon faded, however, 

 and after a run of a few miles we were obliged to make fast to 

 the bank, for the stream is too narrow and tortuous to be safely 

 navigated in the night. Later, the moon rose and her rays stream- 

 ing down between the tree tops cast a soft light on the narrow strip 

 of water that stretched away into the gloom like a shining path- 

 way. In-shore everything was in deep shadow, save where a 

 stray beam rested on a glistening lily leaf or silvered the drooping 

 frond of a palmetto. The night air. fragrant with the breath of 

 forest flowers, stole gently by — so gently that scarce a leaf was 

 stirred, and the stillness was only broken by the innumerable noc- 

 turnal voices that filled the woods. 



At intervals a Courlan {Arauius -pictus) sounded its harsh cry 

 and the watchword, taken up by dozens of vigilant sentinals. was 

 passed along the line of river thickets until it died in the distance. 

 The hooting of the Barred Owls was almost incessant and the 

 arches beneath the trees seemed to echo and prolong the hollow 

 sound. Frequently two of them, after answering one another a 



