Introducing Something New. 



JO 



M W* ONE DAY WHILE IN THE MARSH I 



speculated on the many methods by which species of plant 

 and animal life could be introduced into the area. There 

 is no isolation but, on the contrary, entry is possible by a 

 dozen methods: an extensive Arboretum containing plants 

 from all over the world borders one side of the marsh, many 

 fine private gardens touch the lake so that cast-off plants or 

 seeds might easily be wind-blown or water-carried. Salt water 

 is reached by the short ship canal, streams enter the lake, a 

 railroad skirts the shore, foreign and domestic ships pass 

 right through the marsh area. The ten dozen or more species 

 of visiting birds might bring in seeds. The possibility of new 

 introductions appears unlimited, but in reality there have 

 been so few that it is possible to discuss them in one chapter. 

 Even if the song of tule wrens had been absent on the day 

 I made these notes, the commotion I found in Gadwall Cove 

 would have informed me that the season was spring. The 

 condition that existed there was caused by one of the intro- 

 duced species. Motionless trees and bushes and the quiet 

 waters of the open bay indicated the total absence of breeze, 

 but from the shallows came the sound of water. Not the drip- 



110 



