66 AUDUBON THE NATURALIST. 



liarity of its attributes, with the most singular 

 among specimens of American ornithology, is 

 the umbrella bird mentioned by Wallace * " In 

 size equal to the raven, it is also of a glossy 

 black. The male in particular has a singular 

 crest on its head, formed of feathers two inches 

 long, thickly set with hairy plumes, curving 

 over at the end. These can be erected and 

 spread out on every side, forming a hemispher- 

 ical dome, completely covering the head, and 

 beyond the point of the beak." 



But linked with the Mississippi are associa- 

 tions of very different interest. Contrasted 

 with the poetic charm of beauty or melody in 

 birds and flowers is many a tradition dark with 

 crime. One of these it is which has handed 

 down the name of Mason as the terror of peace- 

 ful navigators on the Mississippi and Ohio. On 

 Wolf Island, not far from the confluence of 

 these rivers, this pirate had his settlement, and 

 leagued with a band of associates who spread 

 from Virginia to New Orleans. Issuing from 

 his ambush on every propitious opportunity, 

 passing boats were waylaid, 'to be rifled of their 

 cargoes, or perhaps deprived of their crews, who 

 mysteriously disappeared. Horses and negroes, 

 the principal traffic of the gang, were, besides 



* Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro. 



