2S8 



Bird - Lore 



talons of the birds and stream out behind 

 when they rise from the nest. 



An interesting feature about these Fish 

 Hawk nests is that, without exception, they 

 have all been built over the water. A cur- 

 ious feature about the behavior of these 

 birds is observable in the fact that al- 

 though the waters of the pond abound in 

 fish, they seem never to attempt to catch 

 any of them, but appear to seek their prey 

 in the salt waters of the ocean, twelve or 

 fifteen miles distant. 



Orton Pond is on Orton Plantation, a 

 baronial estate owned and magnificently 

 preserved by James Sprunt of the nearby 

 city of Wilmington. Mr. Sprunt, who has 

 long been a member of the National Asso- 

 ciation, extended to us a welcome and a 

 hospitality which no words of mine could 

 adequately describe. 



From North Carolina my duties led me 

 to Charleston, S. C, where, in company 

 with Miss Laura M. Bragg, of the Charles- 

 ton Museum, an expedition was made up 

 the Cooper River to the Coming Tee Plan- 

 tation in an effort to locate a colony of 

 Egrets said to be nesting in the rice-re- 

 serve pond. Eight large Egrets were seen. 



but our search for their breeding-place was 

 without avail. 



West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, to 

 which place I next journeyed, is a realm 

 of interest to the ornithologist. Here it 

 was that Audubon for a time studied birds 

 and made many of his famous drawings. 

 The country must be much as it was in 

 Audubon's day, and quiet and refinement 

 reigns from deep galleries as they did a 

 hundred years ago. 



Of the natural beauties of the region 

 Audubon wrote: "Rich magnolias covered 

 with fragrant blossoms, the holly, the 

 beech, the tall yellow poplars, the hilly 

 ground, and even the red clay, all excited 

 my admiration." 



In the heart of the Audubon country I 

 was graciously received in the home of 

 Edward Butler, another member of the 

 Association. For many days he and his 

 brother Robert spared no exertion to make 

 my visit enjoyable and to assist me in ex- 

 ploring the country far and wide. In their 

 company I was privileged to visit Oakley, 

 the old plantation house that stands just 

 as it did when in 182 1 Audubon lived there 

 and taught painting to "my beautiful Miss 



'OAKLEY" THE LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOME WHERE AUDUBON TAUGHT PAINT- 

 ING TO MISS PIERRIE 



