BiiEWSTEii on So7ithcr)i Birds. 95 



are evergreen, but some of them, curiously enough, assume 

 bright autumn tints and cast their leaves in April. This at least 

 is true of the live-oaks and magnolias : during my stay at St. 

 Mar3''s one of the latter, a remarkably fine tree which I often 

 passed in my daily walks, was at one time nearl}- denuded, 

 while the ground beneath was strewn with scarlet and orange- 

 tinted. leaves. 



By the middle of April the fields and forests wore that mature 

 appearance which we associate with August and early Sep- 

 tember. At noonday cicadas shrilled in the sultry woods, and 

 crickets chirped all night long in tlie shrubl)ery about the house. 

 Yet few birds had begun to nest, and many of the northern ones 

 still lingered. I saw Yellow-rumped Warblers, Blue Yellow- 

 backed Warblers and Cedar Birds nearly to the end of April, 

 and a White-throated Sparrow as late as May 2. Many of the 

 Blue Yellow-backed Warblers remained to breed, or rather ivere 

 breeding., for long before this (on April 9) I had found a nearly 

 finished nest. The local birds, however, did not mingle with 

 the strangers, the former being found in pairs, and only where 

 the trees were hung with Spanish moss ; Vt^hile the latter oc- 

 curred in all kinds of timber, and in flocks made up largely of 

 Redstarts, Kinglets, Black-poll W^arblers and other northern 

 species. The same was true of the Catbirds, Brown Thrushes, 

 Pine Warblers, Towhees and several others. It was especially 

 marked in the case of the Towhees, for the resident individuals 

 belonged to a difiei'ent and readily recognizable race. 



One needed but to pass the boundaries of St. Mary's to be 

 fairl}' in the country, for the village had not then overflowed 

 its limits, and the few outlying plantations were scarcely less 

 wild and unkempt than the woods which surrounded them. 

 One of my favorite haunts was the "Bay-gall" (I could never 

 learn the origin of this name), a tract of swampy forest less than 

 a quarter of a mile distant from the house at which we were 

 staying. This place was sure to be alive with birds, and I rarely 

 entered it without making some pleasing discovery. My first 

 visit was on April 6, the day after our arrival. As I approached 

 the woods a Red-bellied Woodpecker started from a solitary tree 

 within a few feet of my head, and alighting at the base of one 

 near by scr;;mbled hurriedly up, dislodging the scales of loose 

 bark in his ascent. He was immediatelv joined by his mate and 



