22 PROCEEDINGS OP THE 



underbrush to gain if possible a reason for this unseemly inter- 

 ruption. 



From the uppermost leafage of the birches comes down the 

 wiry, gentle song of the Black and white Creeper, and at a lower 

 elevation, flitting from branch to branch in rare gymnastic 

 fashion. Redstarts spend their hours in search of insects. 



Altogether it was a day of close association with old friends ; 

 not those of the home grounds and orchards but dwellers of the 

 deep high woods and tangled creek borders, as fond of seclusion 

 and freedom as we ourselves were begiiming to feel. 



At the confluence of the Penny Pot and the Great Egg Harbor 

 River a marked change is to be observed. The banks spread 

 farther apart. Firm and well-defined shores replace, to a large 

 extent the low, boggy stretches of the upper stream. Along in 

 the afternoon, at a point where the stream widened perceptibly 

 and the water flowed deeply and quietly, we paused for our 

 second camp. Encompassed as we were on all sides with dense 

 forests of oak and pine, it was easy to fancy ourselves many 

 more miles remote than was the case. At evening the pines 

 cast a gloom across the dark waters of the river, and as night 

 settled down with its inky shades there seemed little between 

 that silent wilderness and the sky above — a sky radiant with 

 twinkling stars. 



Our next day's journey was along a comparatively open 

 stream. Here we drifted idly with the current. At frequent 

 intervals we could hear the muffled drumming of the Grouse. 

 Once we came upon one unawares at a bend of the stream, only 

 to share in the surprise. Frequently the character of vegetation 

 changed perceptibly. About noon we came upon a great open 

 marsh at the head- waters of Weymouth Pond. Already through 

 its shallows a new growth of cool, green blades had pushed up. 

 It seemed that we wound for miles along its thoroughfares. 

 Here we first added the short-billed Marsh Wren to our rapidly 

 increasing list of birds. We found him busily exploring a 

 clump of last year's stalks, with tail perked up and singing 

 with unusual exuberance. At our close approach he chattered 

 a rebuke and lost himself among the tangled grasses. In the 

 distance the billowy masses of deciduous growth bespoke the 



