402 Bird -Lore 



at the next session. Its chances of passage are good, and it does not appear 

 that the governor v/ould refuse to sign it. 



But the program is light; if whipped, fight again; and keep on fighting 

 until the end is gained. 



REPORT OF EXPEDITION INTO OKEFENOKE 

 SWAMP, GEORGIA 



By FRANCIS HARPER 



Okefenoke Swamp, in southeastern Georgia, lies about forty miles from 

 the coast, and extends slightly over the state boimdary into Florida. It is 

 approximately forty miles in length by thirty in width, and occupies an area 

 of some seven hundred square miles. This large and wonderfully interesting 

 territory has been described recently as "one of the least-known areas of its 

 size in the eastern United States." It has always been hedged about with 

 more or less of superstition and mystery, and, until within the last few years, 

 was virtually a terra incognita to the scientific world. Many an ornithologist, 

 while en route to some more southerly Mecca, has doubtless passed almost 

 within sight of its borders without turning aside to explore the enchanting 

 Okefenoke wilderness. Only the scantiest reference to the swamp exists in the 

 literature of ornithology, and exceedingly little definite information concern- 

 ing its bird-life has been available. 



For the purpose of making an ornithological reconnaissance of the swamp, 

 and, if possible, to locate breeding colonies of Egrets for the National Associa- 

 tion of Audubon Societies, I entered the Okefenoke on May 6, 191 2, remaining 

 for two and a half weeks, till the 23d. During that time I was enabled to 

 see much of the islands, 'bays,' prairies, and waterways in the heart of the 

 swamp. 



The larger islands — such as Billy's, which is perhaps ten square miles in 

 area — are covered chiefly with a fine growth of long-leaf and slash pines, saw- 

 palmettos and huckleberries, and form a congenial habitat for such species as 

 the Sandhill Crane, Bob-white, Red-cockaded, Pileated, and Red-bellied 

 Woodpeckers, Southern Meadowlark, Pine- woods Sparrow, White-eyed 

 Towhee, Pine Warbler, Brown-headed Nuthatch, and Bluebird. Some of 

 the smaller islands support a luxuriant 'hammock' growth of spruce pine, 

 live oak, several kinds of bays, sweet gum, gallberry, cane, etc. 



A large proportion of the swamp consists of dense cypress 'bays,' where 

 some of the finest cypress timber in the world grows in several feet of water. 

 In such places there is a tangled undergrowth of bushes, shrubs, and ferns, 

 well-nigh impassable, except by a few narrow water-trails or 'runs,' where 

 the traveler pushes his tiny boat in a tortuous and wearisome course between 

 cypress knees, over floating or submerged logs, and under fallen trees. Here, 

 beneath the shady canopy of moss-garlanded cypresses, abound such birds 



