336 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX 



I have found great trouble in getting specimens of 

 very young bears. The hunters, always in a hurry to 

 get their bear bounties, take them to the treasurer for 

 the money and he cuts off the nose from the skin of the 

 old one and the whole head of the little ones. In my 

 many winters in the South and in California, where 

 bears do not den, I have never been able from the 

 hunters to find one, nor ever had seen one until it was 

 old enough to follow the mother. 



The Big Woodpeckers 



"Red Wing" wishes some one having acquaintance 

 with the ivory-billed woodpecker (Campe philus princi- 

 palis) to send a note to the Forest and Stream. This 

 bird, now quite rare, was not uncommon in all the large 

 swamps in Florida, from Lake Washington to St. Mary's 

 river. It was more abundant up the Wekiver, a small 

 stream below Sanford, but used to be common about 

 Lake Jessup and all the large swamps on the west coast, 

 but of late so many shooters and bird collectors go south 

 that they have nearly exterminated many very interest- 

 ing birds. 



But a few years ago the little Carolina parrot or 

 paroquet was very abundant all over Florida. Now they 

 are not seen. The ivory-billed woodpecker is easily 

 found, if you know its note, which it utters continually 

 as it ascends the tree, but I have never heard any sound 

 when flying. As soon as it alights, at nearly every leap 

 commences its loud, queer note, repeated three times — 

 pate, pate, pate — and this can be heard a long way and 

 often leads to its destruction. 



