9<^ Brkavsteh 0)1 Southern Birds. 



Woodpecker was exclusivel}- a bird of the pines. It- was not 

 common about St. Mary's and I had difficulty in s^etting as many 

 specimens as Iwanted. Its notes to my ear abiiost exactly resem- 

 l)led those of Sitta pitsilla. On the ist of Mav I started a female 

 from her nesting-hole, which was about thirty feet above the 

 ground in a large and apparently perfectly sound pine. I was 

 unable to climb the tree but the liird acted as if her eggs had 

 already been laid. 



The pine lands of the .South haye an open park-like character 

 that is a continual surprise to one accustomed only to New Eng- 

 land forests. The trees rarely stand in close proximity to one 

 another, and they are often so widely scattered that the general 

 eflect is that of an opening rather than a forest. Unless a hum- 

 mock interrupts the view, the eye may sometimes roam for half- 

 a-mile in ever}' direction over a perfectly level plain, interspersed 

 with occasional trees whose tufted heads throw waving shadows 

 upon the bright green beds of saw-palmetto that cover most of 

 the ground beneath. Were it not for the half-wild cattle that 

 range at yvill through the country, the palmetto would probabh' 

 usurp every inch of ground ; but these creatures keep it within 

 reasonable limits, and many spaces- of closely cropped grass and 

 stunted blueberries intervene. About such places I used to find the 

 Bachman's Finch, a retiring little bird which might easily be over- 

 looked by one unacquainted with its habit of skulking among the 

 heritage and lying concealed until nearly trodden on. But no one 

 w ith the slightest ear for bird music can long remain in igno- 

 rance of its presence after the breeding-season has set in, for the 

 male possesses vocal powers of a very rare order. His song is a 

 prolonged, leisurely chant composed of several distinct bars or 

 sets of notes, with brief pauses between, as if the bird stopped to 

 take breath. The final notes of each bar have sometimes a rising, 

 sometimes a falling, inflection, and the tone is varied in the most 

 subtle manner. Now it has a full bell-like ring that seems to fill 

 the air around ; next it is soft and low and inexpressibly tender : 

 now it is clear again, but so modulated that the sound seems to 

 come from a great distance. The whole performance is very 

 simple and I hardly know the secret of its charm. To be fully 

 appreciated it should lie heard in the soft twilight of an April 

 eyening, when the still woods are filletl with dusky shadows. At 

 such times it has nio\ed me more deeply than I care to confess. 



