Extracts from Diary of Otto Widmann 71 



our way to the clubhouse we followed it for a short dis- 

 tance. For the convenience of the members the railroad 

 station Hollister has been erected a mile south of Bran- 

 son on the opposite side of the river, doing away with» 

 the trouble and delay of crossing the river on a ferry, and 

 thereby greatly facilitating access to the clubhouse at all 

 seasons. 



While the view over the White Biver Valley from the 

 Branson side was grand, that from the cliff in front of 

 the clubhouse was more imposing and surprisingly pic- 

 turesque. The sides of the bluif being almost perpen- 

 dicular, a point projecting beyond the rest seemed won- 

 derfully adapted for the erection of an observation 

 tower, standing out like a bastion 288 feet above the 

 water of the swift stream which describes here a wide 

 semicircle, with nothing to obstruct the view over many 

 miles of the river's course and over the bluffs and cliffs 

 on both sides. Flanked and backed by rows of wooded 

 hills as far as the eye can reach, the sight is so srand that 

 it is not easily forgotten. 



It was near noon of May 7 when my wife and I stepped 

 from the train at Branson under the finest Ozark sk>' 

 imaginable, bright and clear, with a light refreshing 

 breeze which kept the temperature at a lovely point all 

 afternoon and enabled us to identify fifty-two species of 

 birds before nightfall and without going beyond the con- 

 fines of the town. 



The next two days were spent in the environs of the 

 town, varied by a drive to the Maine Clubhouse on the 

 afternoon of the 9th, and before we boarded the car again 

 on the 10th our list of birds had swelled to the number 

 of eighty-four, only fourteen of which were transients, 

 seventy being recognized regular summer sojourners and 

 breeders in the locality. 



As the water in the river was pretty high and rapid, 

 few waders could be expected in our search for bird 

 specimens, and we saw only a Grreen Heron and a few 



