394 Bird - Lore 



There is no reason to be surprised at all this; it is simply the difference 

 between winter and late summer, but many persons who go south in the 

 winter express disappointment in the vegetation. Florida, for instance, as 

 a "Land of Flowers," is expected to be in a perpetual state of inflorescence; 

 but even in the tropics vegetation must have its periods of rest. A tree cannot 

 bear blossoms and fruit continually, any more than a bird can nest through- 

 out the year. 



The bird population of the southern states is probably smaller in early 

 October than in any other part of the year. The migration is nearly over, the 

 summer residents have gone, and, like the tourists who later will flock south, 

 the winter residents have not come. 



Mourning Doves, which are doubtless more often seen from car-windows 

 than any other North American bird, flew, usually in pairs, as though they 

 were hurrying to keep an appointment somewhere. Sparrow Hawks and 

 Loggerhead Shrikes, both of which hunt in the open, were not uncommon, and 

 there were occasional Turkey Buzzards. A scattered company of about twenty 

 White Herons animated the marsh near Beaufort; doubtless they were im- 

 mature Little Blues. About a charming old hotel in this quaint city of the 

 real south. Mockingbirds were singing delightfully — not the passionate out- 

 burst of nesting-time, but a subdued melody as though, so to speak, the birds 

 were 'running over the keys' reminiscently. Here, too, were Boat-tailed 

 Crackles, feeding on the berries of a tree which grew in the hotel yard. From 

 the wide second-story, with its broad outlook over the bay to the sea islands, 

 one could almost touch them. 



The journey down the east coast of Florida was made at night, and when I 

 awoke at sunrise we were already in the Keys. The floral change is striking. 

 We had gone from the Subtemperate to the Subtropical. If the earth here were 

 as favorable to plant-growth as is the air, what superb forests we might have ! 

 As it is, the growth is dense and luxuriant, if low, but when it is cleared only 

 limestone is revealed, and one marvels that the trees can find either foothold 

 or food. 



Under the best conditions for exploration I have never found birds abundant 

 in Florida Keys, and it is therefore not to be expected that many species would 

 be seen from a train. Ospreys and Herons were the characteristic birds. 

 Of the latter I saw Little Green, Louisiana, and Yellow- crowned Night Herons; 

 Ward's and the Great White Heron; while one individual, quite near the train, 

 had the white head which marks the puzzling intermediate between these two, 

 so-called, 'Wuerdemann's Heron.' 



There was but a single Brown Pelican, one Duck Hawk, numerous Sparrow 

 Hawks and Florida Red-shoulders; a few Gulls (evidently Laughing), and, on 

 the upright boards driven to the water's edge, which retain the grading on this 

 remarkable railroad, were occasionally perched rows of Snipe. I identified, 

 with reasonable certainty, Dowitcher, Turnstone, and Black-bellied Plover, 



