294 



THE OOLOGIST 



never recover from it. 



Boat Tailed Grackles were nesting 

 and over 600 nests were counted in 

 less than one-fourth mile in saw grass 

 along an old abandoned canal, all of 

 which contained three eggs. Here in 

 this old canal choked with water let- 

 tuce I had another seance with the 

 snakes, every dip of the paddle 

 brought one of the wriggling monsters 

 out and one landed in the canoe but 

 started something he could not finish, 

 as his tanned hide on my wall will tes- 

 tify. It was about this time I had a 

 mix-up with a steamer carrying sup- 

 plies to the dredges. We met in a 

 narrow crooked canal and I was wash- 

 ed bodily out of the canal, canoe and 

 all, into the saw grass, losing over- 

 board a large box of nearly all of my 

 dry plates and what sets I had collect- 

 ed, into over 20 feet of swiftly run- 

 ning water. It was hard to see all my 

 photographic work go after the hard 

 time I had in getting it. However, the 

 C'aptain of the steamer heard a few 

 "new ones" beside my usual stock on 

 hand before he got away. I was lucky 

 to get away alive under the circum- 

 stances, I suppose. 



March 24 and 25 will long be remem- 

 bered days to me. I was in one of 

 those severe galls on the lake that 

 sometimes sweep across this part of 

 the world. I had chartered a small 

 launch to carry me across the lake 

 to a camp of a guide who was to go 

 on the Prairie with me. .Having the 

 canoe in tow we came out of the 

 creek and onto Okeechobee where the 

 waves were piling up 10 to 15 feet 

 high and wind was blowing a gale. 

 After a few minutes run we decided 

 it was too rough to cross and so head- 

 ed in for harbor in Eagle Bay. This we 

 made after two hours of the wildest 

 riding I ever experienced. We drop- 

 ped anchor in the bay but lost it right 

 now, and the wind then blew us up in- 



to the saw grass and here we stayed, 

 as our old-styled propellor would not 

 work on the grass and weeds. Two 

 days and nights we stayed here until 

 the gale abated somewhat. We had 

 plenty of rations to cook but no land 

 to get on to build a fire. A few cans 

 of sardines and Uneeda Biscuits on 

 board and we sure lived high on them. 

 We would change our menu from 

 Uneedas and lake water for 

 breakfast, to water and Uneedas 

 for dinner and plain Uneedas 

 for supper. Uneedas are good, no 

 doubt of it, but very slow in filling up. 

 I recall the supper of the second night, 

 sitting with one arm around a stan- 

 chion to keep from being blown away 

 eating Uneedas and drinking water, 

 the "Cracker" owner of the launch 

 spoke up, "Say, Professor, how many 



of these d crackers does it take to 



fill a man up, no how." We were each 

 in the middle of our fourth package 

 then. Sleeping on a 12 inch seat has 

 its disadvantages also, when one has 

 to keep an arm around a stanchion to 

 stay in the boat, and there might be 

 harder beds than a board, but I never 

 slept on them. However, as is usual 

 in such cases, the wind died down the 

 next day and by nightfall we arrived 

 at the guide's camp in time for supper. 

 As luck would have it, he had a part 

 of four ducks and two squirrels stew- 

 ed with potatoes and remarked that 

 for men Avho had been dining so freely 

 on Uneeda biscuits, "we could sure 

 eat some." 



(To be continued.) 



Books Received. 



Game Laws For 1913 — A summary 

 of the provisions relating to seasons, 

 export, sale, limits and licenses, by 

 T. S. Palmer, W. F. Bancroft and 

 Frank L. Ernshaw. 



This bulletin of 59 pages, is a com- 

 prehensive review of the subject 



