3 



HABITS. 



We l:ui<le<l at Key West in November, 1870, only a week or two after the fearful hurricanes 

 which, during the latter part of October, had raged along the coast, doing an immense amount 

 of damage. The Florida Reefs, from Tortngas to Cape Canaveral, were strewn with wrecks, 

 and many of the smaller keys were swept by the water, which rose to a great height. Even the 

 little city of Key West suffered much from the effects of the gale. The long fringed leaves of 

 the cocoa-nut palms were twisted and torn in such a manner that the beauty of many of these 

 statelv trees, which had been the pride of the city, was sadly marred. Orchards, in which 

 lately flourished the orange, citron, pomegranate, and other tropical trees and shrubs were 

 visited by the destroying typhoon, and the ripening fruit dashed to the ground. Gardens, 

 before lovely with flowers of varied hpes, where the night blooming cereus gave out its fragrance 

 when the Southern cross shone down, were disfigured, and iu many cases ruined. In fact, the 

 whole island was but a wreck of what it was before this scourge came upon it. 



Nor was this all ; after a few weeks of extreme drought, rains fell accompanied by intense 

 heat, and the danger of yellow fever was imminent. Everybody was longing for cooler weather, 

 but in vain ; still the heat continued until even the birds, which were quite abundant upon our 

 arrival, left the island. But as all such tedious seasons must have an end, so relief came to the 

 inhabitants of Key West in the form of a cool, dry "norther." We had some heavy showers, 

 during which rain fell, as only tropical rains can fall, and deluged the island. After this the 

 wind blew fresh from the snow fields of the Northland, driving the pestilential vapors before it, 

 suiftlv and surely, until the Key was cleansed. Indeed it blew so long and so cold, and the 

 thermometer fell so low, that the "oldest inhabitant" could not bring to mind a like instance. 

 The fishes and crabs along the shore were surprised in shoal water by this unusual occurrence, 

 and, although the weather was not actually freezing (the thermometer only stood at 40), died 

 in immense numbers and were washed on shore. 



In the very midst of this chilly weather I awoke one morning to hear the cheery notes of the 

 Robin. I went out among the shrubbery and found that there were thousands, the whole island 

 beiiii; filled with them, and their energetic call notes resounded on all sides. So suddenly had 

 thev appeared that it seemed as if they had been born from the breath of the North Wind. 

 Their advent seemed unusual, for our venerable friend opened his eyes and declared that they 

 had not favored the Key with a visit for years, and that their coining promised more cool weather. 

 I was glad to see their red breasts again, even if they did look out of place among the strange 

 foliaged trees, and to hear their brusque notes once more. They were restless, however, and 

 constantly flitted from place to place, as if discontented with the locality. During the day great 

 flocks rose up from the Key, and, after ascending high in air, steered southward towards Cuba. 

 This was Christmas time, and they continued to visit the Key for some days, but by the first of 

 January they all disappeared as suddenly as they came. 



On the 9th of October, I found them abundant at Miami, on the southern portion of the 

 main land of Florida. They appeared in large flocks, at intervals, until March, but were restless, 

 over moving, as is their nature. So I have always found them, out of the breeding season, 

 whether on the mountains of Maine, among the villages and gardens of Massachusetts, or in 

 the trackless piny woods of Florida. Rightly did the Swedish naturalist name them the 

 Migratory Thrush, for they possess a true nomadic spirit. The want of food appears to be 

 the motive of these excursions. During this season the Robins are very shy ; even in the wilds 

 of Florida thev could be approached only with difficulty, and generally kept in the woods. 



The birds seem to move in waves over these immense woodland plains, and the Robins would 

 be accompanied by flocks of Warblers, Woodpeckers, Bluebirds and Jays. I have observed this 

 elsewhere to some extent, but in Florida it is quite striking. I have walked for hours in the 



