158 A NATURE WOOING. 



several for months in a glass globe on a few sprigs 

 of purslain, Portulaca oleracea L. Their chirp, at 

 times, was incessant, and sprinkling them with water 

 never failed to render them more lively and noisy."* 



April 7, 1899. This morning, 'neath cloudy, 

 threatening skies, I made my way to the clearing near 

 the old chimneys. No sooner had I arrived there 

 than the threatened deluge began. It was a veritable 

 Florida downpour, which lasted three hours. I took 

 shelter in the shack of palmetto leaves which I have 

 before mentioned and found it perfectly water-proof. 

 The two natives who had been working in the clear- 

 ing were sheltered with me and we talked of many 

 of the animals and birds which inhabit this region. 



They affirmed that the ivory-billed woodpecker,, 

 Campephilus principals L., is still rather common 

 in the heavy timbered hammocks, several miles back 

 from the railway; also that the Carolina paroquet, 

 Conurus carolimnsis L., was common about Ormond 

 until 1887, and that it is still abundant in the ever- 

 glades and the more primitive portions of southern 

 Florida. Both these birds were once common in In- 

 diana, but long since disappeared from that State, 

 retreating before the advancing civilization of the 

 white man to the deepest recesses of these southern 

 forests. 



The black or brown bear, Ursus americanus 

 Pallas, is still occasionally seen. Seven or eight were 



* North American Herpetology, III, 1838, 76. 



