THE OOLOGIST 



45 



more tender Sparrows, who have to 

 winter in the South, leave their work 

 to be carried on through the autumn 

 and winter by Juncos, Snowflakes, 

 Redpolls and Grosbeaks. — The Class- 

 mate, T. A. Strong, San Jose, Cal. 



BIRD LIFE AT FUSIHATCHI COUN- 

 TRY CLUB, ELMORE COUNTY, 

 ALABAMA. 



By Peter A. Brannon, Montgomery, 

 Alabama. 



The Fusihatchi Country Club is lo- 

 cated on and surrounds the aboriginal 

 site of Fusihatchi, on the Tallapoosa 

 River. It truly perpetuates its name, 

 if we are to consider it from the stand- 

 point of a bird refuge. The word sig- 

 nifies "Bird Creek," in the Creek In- 

 dian language. 



Aboriginal Gorgets found in the 

 vicinity of this place show numerous 

 applications of the figure of the Ivory- 

 billed Woodpecker, and it is highly 

 probable that the word takes its sig- 

 nificance from the fact that in those 

 days this bird was common in this 

 region. 



The bird life there is almost as it 

 was in primitive times. Observations 

 covering the last ten years, give many 

 reasons why the original Creek Indi- 

 an inhabitants of this section should 

 have called it by that name. During 

 the period from 1913 to the present 

 time, the writer has visited this local- 

 ity four or five times each year, some- 

 times oftener, and there is no place 

 in the central part of the state that 

 bird life is more prevalent or more 

 diversified. The Country Club reser- 

 vation has only been established about 

 two years, but during the past ten 

 years several observers have paid 

 especial attention to the locality, and 

 the fact of its natural beauty, as well 



as its attractive winged inhabitants 

 was one factor in the selection of the 

 point as a club. 



The grounds extend up Fusihatchi 

 Creek from its mouth at the Johnson 

 bridge, at old Ware's ferry, for three 

 and one-half miles, and include part 

 of the Tenant "quarter" of a large 

 river plantation, the bridge keeper's 

 house, as well as a small fish pond, a 

 club house, a duck roost and some 

 sage fields where quail abound. The 

 entire acreage, though, is not large. 



The Pileated Woodpecker has been 

 known to nest on the reservation for 

 more than ten years. A pair in full 

 plumage, secured at different times 

 here, is in the museum of the Alabama 

 Department of Archives and History. 

 The Summer Tanager, the Red- 

 winged Blackbird, the Bee Martin, the 

 Rough-winged Swallow, the Chimney 

 Swallow, the Mocking Bird, the Cat 

 Bird, the Yellow Hammer, the 

 Meadow Lark, the Bluebird, the Wood 

 Thrush, the Mourning Dove, the 

 Brown Thrasher, the Purple Martin 

 (locally called the Box-Martin), the 

 Crow, the Orchard Oriole, the Bluejay, 

 the Cardinal, the Shrike, the Field 

 Sparrow, the Red-head Woodpecker, 

 and other of the more common perma- 

 nent residents, nest in the immediate 

 vicinity of Sambuli Lodge, the club 

 house. 



The King Rail, the American Bittern 

 and now a small colony of Ducks are 

 located just in the upper marshes of 

 the lake, and the Kingfisher in the 

 banks of the dam. 



The flora of the surroundings is 

 practically unchanged from that re- 

 ported by William Bartram, who paid 

 two visits to the Indian town in 1777. 

 That flora characteristic of the central 

 Alabama sandy country, is highly de- 

 veloped at this point. The mountain 

 laurel and three of the azelias grow 



