48 



THE OOLOGIST. 



disappointed. It was April. The sun 

 had reached a point nearly overhead 

 and the heat was intense, certainly over 

 one hundred degrees and the air was 

 suffocating with the effluvia of the 

 coarse rank vegetation. Before me 

 was a dense thicket of green briar or 

 chapperal utterly impassable. I retrac- 

 ed my steps, fortunately, without loos- 

 ing my bearings. To lose one's self in 

 these vast swamps and forests would be 

 a very serious matter. Cutting a light 

 l^ole I parted the dense mass of vegeta- 

 tion ahead of me and before I had ad- 

 vanced a dozen rods I discoA'ered an- 

 other ugly moccasin coiled and ready 

 to strike. I speedily despatched the 

 reptile and just before reaching higher 

 and dryer ground espied another, who, 

 contrary to their usual habit beat a 

 hasty retreat before I could shoot it. 

 These swamps during the spring, sum- 

 mer and early autumn must be a very 

 hotbed of these hideous venomous rep- 

 tiles, which are more dreaded than even 

 the rattlesnake, for they give no warn- 

 ing when approached, and seldom re- 

 treat. They attain the length of five 

 and six feet and their largest diameter 

 is often over four inches. Still not- 

 withstanding the hidden dangers under 

 foot, the eye is entranced and bewilder- 

 ed at times with the profusion of flow- 

 ers one meets. Large areas of the 

 fragrant yellow jessamine and other 

 beautiful flowering vines and flowers 

 of different kinds are met with in all 

 directions, the beautiful four-leaved 

 Cherokee rose, a pure white flower 

 nearly four inches in diameter being 

 very conspicuous. But it is here where 

 the deadly moccasin lurks, and here as 

 well as elsewhere the venomous crawl- 

 ing centipedes make their home in the 

 rotten timber. Uj^on emerging from 

 this vast tract of danger and beauty, 

 most suffocating heat, fragrant flowers 

 and noxious vegetable gases, I enter 

 upon a space of open country intersper- 

 sed v,'ith shrubbery and trees. Here 



tlie birds, the most beautiful forms of 

 all animal life, are more abundant. I 

 walk along the edge of the swamp. 

 Among the tree tops and bushes many 

 species of migrating birds are seen, 

 which in the course of a few weeks 

 with the exception of those indigenous 

 to the Southern States, will wend their 

 way to the far north to breed. Nearly 

 all of the migratory land birds 

 and many of the shore and water birds 

 winter here; many species, however, 

 passing still further south to the West 

 Indies, the Bahama Islands and prob- 

 ably a few extend their migrations into 

 South America. In the coiu'se of my 

 rather limited observations from Janu- 

 ary to the first week in April, I have 

 met with nearly every land bird that is 

 found in New England, with the excep- 

 tion, of course, of the few winter birds 

 that visit those states and return to the 

 far north tat the approach of warm 

 weather. The Mockingbird {Mimus 

 polyglottus) is one of the most conspic- 

 ious among the birds here, is now in 

 full song, and is met with every few 

 rods. They are almost domesticated, 

 unsuspicious and familiar to a degree 

 that is surprising and pleasing. They 

 repose the utmost confidence in man, 

 and well they may, for they are never 

 molested and make their rendezvous 

 and homes near the" houses being sel- 

 dom met with in the unsettled districts. 

 Clarence W. Rowley, 

 Ellis, Mass. 



Birds of Mackinac Island, Mich. 



As observed by Mr. T. Gilbert White 

 during the summer of 1889. The fig- 

 ures at the left of the rarer species in- 

 dicates the number of specimens seen. 

 B, breeds; M, migrant. 

 Am. Robin, Common. B. 

 Wilson's Thrush, Uncommon. B. 

 Hermit " Common. B. 



Olive-backed " " B. 



Bluebird " " B. 



Golden-crowned Kinglet, " 

 9 Ruby " " Rare. B. 



