994 WALKS ABOUT TALLAHASSEE. 
the swollen stumps, three or four feet high, 
of larger trees which had been felled. I 
pushed in through the surrounding shrub- 
bery and bay-trees, and waited for some 
time, leaning against one of the larger 
trunks and listening to the noises, of which 
the air of the swamp was full. Great- 
crested flycatchers, two Acadian flycatchers, 
a multitude of blue yellow-backed warblers, 
and what I supposed to be some loud-voiced 
frogs were especially conspicuous in the con- 
cert ; but a Carolina wren, a cardinal, a red- 
eyed vireo, and a blue-gray gnatcatcher, the 
last with the merest thread of a voice, con- 
tributed their share to the medley, and once 
a chickadee struck up his sweet and gentle 
strain in the very depths of the swamp — 
like an angel singing in hell. 
My walk on the railway, that wonderful 
St. Mark’s branch (I could never have im- 
agined the possibility of running trains over 
so crazy a track), took me through the 
choicest of bird country. The bushes were 
alive, and the air rang with music. In the 
midst of the chorus I suddenly caught some- 
where before me what I had no doubt was 
the song of a purple finch, a bird that I had 
