16 Tue Witson BuLietin, No. 74. 
some of them. Repeated high waters of long continued dura- 
tion hay caused a great increase in the number and develop- 
ment of willows of the species, Salix longifolia, which has 
largely superceded the former lowland forest. 
Virtually all of the normal undergrowth has been killed. 
When the bottomland becomes emerged in summer the ground 
is usually covered with a dense growth of composit, 1.0 to 
2.5 meters high, the most common species of which are Xan- 
thium commune (cocklebur), Ambrosia trifida (giant rag- 
weed). Solidago spp (goldenrods), Aster spp and Boltonia 
decurrans. The bottomland woods are quite free from shrub- 
by undergrowth as it cannot withstand the action of the ice, 
together with the continued submergence. In a few open 
places, however, there are small thicket-like areas composed 
of willow (Salia longifolia), Adelia acuminata, and much less 
frequently some stragely half ded buttonbush. 
The bottomland woods are not very dense and the trees are 
usually leafy almost to the very base. Spiders are very 
abundant and their webs make dense tangles thruout the 
foliage. Small insect life is also very abundant, and in ad- 
dition there is a wealth of molluskan forms. 
The bottomland woods in the vicinity of Lake Matanzas 
partake much of the typical character of a bog, and necessi- 
tates special consideration because some of the members of its 
avifauna were found nowhere else in this region. The tree 
growth, which dominates the greater part of the bog except 
at the line of springs at the foot of the bluff, consists largely 
of soft maple, elm, ashes, birch (Betula nigra) and sycamor 
with dogwood, wild rose, buttonbush and willows as the prin- 
cipal shrubby growth. The courses of the little creeks that 
flow from the springs are markt by the growth of Leersia, one 
of the grasses. bordered by willows and buttonbushes. 
Birds of these bottomland woods are fairly numerous and 
quite varied in species. Almost without exception they are 
insectivorous birds. The flycatcher family is the best repre- 
sented with numerous wood pewees and phoebes, a smaller 
