THE O. & O. SEMI-ANNUAL. II 
OBSERVATIONS FROM THE DECK OF 
AS ATTER. 
BY L. OTLEY PINDAR, HICKMAN, KY. 
I left Hickman, Ky., which is situated on the Mississippi 
River, one afternoon late in August, 1889, on the steamboat 
Granite State. , myer, 
Soon after the boat left the wharf, I stationed myself on the 
upper deck to see what birds I could find on, over, or by the 
river, which, as there was no wind, was as smooth as a moonlit 
lake. . . ci 
Numbers of Forster’s Terns were to be seen, some skimming 
over the surface of the’ water, others mounting higher and higher, 
farther and farther away till lost to view, while others again 
sported here and there as carelessly as the Chimney Swifts and 
Barn Swallows that darted by the boat, or the Turkey V ultures 
that whirled in ‘mazy circles ov verhead. 
On a tall tree, near the river and just below Columbus, Nye 
was a family of Kingbirds, and in the same tree was the nest 
which had been their summer home and which they would so 
soon desert. Just above Columbus a Snowy Heron flew from a 
clump of willow bushes at the approach of the boat and a little 
farther on some Kildeers ran about uneasily as the boat’s wheel 
sent the waves rolling over the low, flat bank on which they were 
searching for food. 
Dusk fell as we neared Cairo, and the darkness above us seenied 
to be increased by the large flocks of Crows flying to their roosting 
plaeés:i in the denise Missouri swamps. 
The next morning found us some distance up the Ohio River 
All through the day and indeed during the whole trip the Switts, 
Barn Swallows and Vultures were common. But they were not 
all. That giant wader, the Great Blue Heron often flew across 
