324 



THE OOLOGIST. 



getting a veritable southern horse in 

 exchange. He said of his new horse; 

 "two or three times he has nearly brok- 

 en my neck and at Georgetown 

 ferry he threw one of the boatman 

 into the river; but he is an excellent 

 traveller, and for that one quality I 

 forgive him all his sins, only keeping 

 a close rein and a sharp look out." 



Our traveler has reached Charleston, 

 at which place he says he was as well 

 acquainted with the streets as he was 

 with those of New York and Boston. 

 He was particularly struck with the 

 super abundance of negroes in Charles- 

 ton, as he was in all the southern 

 cities, and says that they destroy the 

 activity of the whites. He says that 

 even the bricklayers stand with their 

 hands in their pockets and overlook 

 their negroes. With the exception of 

 the neglect of a few, who agreed to 

 supply him with the names of those 

 likely to subscribe, he was well pleased 

 with the inhabitants of Charleston and 

 added a number of names to his sub- 

 scription list. Wilson heard of General 

 Wilkinson's arrival in the city, aud at 

 once called on him aud wits rewarded 

 by entering his. name on the list and re- 

 ceiving his unbounded praise. 



Late in Febuary he set out in the di- 

 rection of Savannah, and it was on this 

 journey that he became acquainted 

 with the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, the 

 King of the Pious family. An account 

 of the remarkable experience he had 

 with one of these birds appeared a num- 

 ber of years ago in the Oologist un- 

 der the title of "A Red-headed Family" 

 and from which I reduce the following, 

 as my readers may have forgotten the 

 incident. He wounded an Ivory-billed 

 Woodpecker slightly in the wing, 

 which on being caught uttered a con- 

 stant cry, resembling that of a young 

 child. The cry was so distressing, that, 

 as he carried the bird through the 

 streets, people hurried to the windows 

 to see from whence it proceeded. _ As 



he drove up to the tavern, the landlord 

 and bystanders were much perplexed 

 by Wilson's asking for lodgings for 

 himself and baby. Finally he uncover- 

 ed the bird much to the amusement 

 and astonishment of the people. He 

 took the woodpecker upstairs, and lock- 

 ed him in a chamber, while he went 

 to give directions concerning his horse. 

 In less than an hour he returned, and 

 on opening the chamber door he found 

 the bird had mounted at the side of the 

 window, a little below the ceiling, and 

 was battling for liberty by making a 

 hole through the side of the house. 

 The bed was covered with large pieces 

 of plaster, the lath was exposed in a 

 space fifteen inches square, and a con- 

 siderable hole beaten through the lath- 

 ing to the weather boards; so that, had 

 not Wilson returned, it would soon 

 have released itself from bondage. 

 He then tied the bird to the top of a 

 mahogany table by means of a string 

 fastened' to its leg and went out in 

 search of suitable food for it. When 

 he returned, he found that it had given 

 vent to its rage by pecking holes in the 

 table, which was entirely ruined, with 

 blows from its powerful bill. While 

 Wilson was sketching it, it cut him in 

 several places, and displayed such an 

 invincible spirit, that he was tempted 

 to restore it' to the woods. It refused 

 all food, and lived but a few days. 



At Savannah he found the air as op- 

 pressive as in midsummer in Philadel- 

 phia; although it was early spring the 

 thermometer registered as high as 

 eighty degrees. The streets he said 

 were beds of burning sand. Here he 

 met a naturalist, a Mr. Abbot, who had 

 published a book upon the insects of 

 Georgia, and who from a long resident 

 of the state and a competent observer, 

 was able to give Wilson a store of infor- 

 mation about the southern birds. 



At Savannah he was advised to go to 

 Atlanta, where he was assured he could 

 get fifteen subscribers, but he thought 



