328 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX 



its wings, cannot but be convinced the whistle is made 

 with the wings. 



Audubon should be pretty good authority, and he 

 records the noise as made by the wings ; and among all 

 my bird acquaintance I do not remember one bird that 

 has a continuous mouth note when flying, but very many 

 have a wing whistle when flying, such as the golden-eye 

 duck, whistling swan and many others, that can be heard 

 a long distance. The drumming ruffed grouse, noise of 

 the wings of the flushed quail and many others talk with 

 their wings as well as their mouths. 



Snakes in Florida 



I do not think your correspondent ' ' Anti Snake' ' need 

 to be so much afraid of rattlesnakes in Florida. I have 

 done considerable camping, tramping and hunting in the 

 seventeen winters I have spent in Florida, but I have 

 never lost a dog nor seen a live rattlesnake in the woods 

 or swamps of this State. I walk through the swamps, 

 scrub palmetto or grass without ever thinking of snakes ; 

 and in the seventeen years have only known of two per- 

 sons to have been bitten by rattlers ; one a Mr. Babcock, 

 at Pine Island, Charlotte Harbor, and the young English- 

 man killed this winter at Halifax River. He saw the 

 snake and struck at it with a stick, when it struck back 

 and hit him. It doesn't do to play with them. 



What is called the moccasin snake or cotton-mouth 

 here, is very abundant in the water and swamps in the 

 southern part of the State, but not much feared or con- 

 sidered very dangerous like the rattlers. 



I was once shooting from a boat in south Florida when 

 the bushes pulled out one of our rowlocks (quite a loss 



