96 



A NATURE WOOING. 



It seems that at this season the name of "barren" 

 applies as well to the animal as to the vegetable forms 

 of life, for the former were few and far between. 

 Four species of beetles taken from beneath chunks 

 and fallen limbs alone rewarded me for the two hours' 

 search. The largest was Pasimachus marginatus 

 Fab., an oblong black carabid an 

 inch in length, of which two 

 specimens were taken. An- 

 other and rarer species was 

 Helluomorpha ferruginea Lee., a 

 uniform brown form which is 

 not recorded in any Florida list. 

 The others are Tenebrioides semi- 

 cylindrica Horn, a cylindrical, 

 elongate black species which is 



/^ also rare, and Plianeus igneus 

 MacL., a "tumble buar" closely 



Fig. 31. ,,. , , 



jtofmaehuMryiuto.Fab. allied to our common northern 



P. carnifex. 



Returning to the cabin, I partook of a "fish chow- 

 der," of which one small bass formed the fishy flavor ; 

 since the finny tribe had refused to sacrifice them- 

 selves for our hungry stomachs. Nevertheless, other 

 viands were plentiful, and after an hour at the festal 

 board, we started homeward. 



On the way down stream a great blue heron, Ardea 

 herodias L., seemingly of lighter hue than the same 

 species in the north, was flushed a number of times. 

 He would arise with a loud flapping of wings from 



