172 Union Bay 



could be heard more often. It is a common sound in many 

 parts of the East, but its hoarse deepness astonishes and 

 startles every visitor to the marsh who has never heard it 

 before. I used to see hundreds of their tadpoles, but I have 

 not seen one for two years. 



Bubbles come up from all over the cove. Sometimes they 

 are so regular, small, and evenly spaced that they look like 

 rain drops. Today they vary in size. Some are as big as a 

 teacup and reach the surface with a faint gulping sound; 

 others rise in a little cluster that agitates the water and 

 makes it appear as if a group of small fish were playing at 

 the surface. There must be a tremendous amount of decay 

 taking place on the marsh bottom during warm weather. I 

 am informed that one product of this disintegration is marsh 

 gas, scientifically known as methane, and that it is inflam- 

 mable. 



The hours pass as I watch and take my ease. I hear the 

 high call of a hairy woodpecker, a rolling repetition that 

 somewhat resembles that of a kingfisher but lacks its harsh- 

 ness. The campus bird list, written some years ago, calls them 

 scarce. But since the pamphlet was issued the trees in parts 

 of the area have made considerable growth, and now these 

 white and black woodpeckers are. frequently seen. 



My eye catches movement on some debris floating near 

 the canoe. I lift the small bit of vegetation and discover a 

 tiny brown grub, plump in the center and tapered almost 

 to a point at both ends. I put it on the gunwale. When it 

 starts moving I find— much to my surprise, for it appears too 

 fat for such bending exercises— that it is a "looper." It pro- 

 jects its anterior end forward in the air, then lowers it, and 

 draws its rear end up and repeats the operation. I stir up the 

 vegetation with a twig and find a dozen others feeding on 

 this small bit of floating waste. 



I keep watching for young carp but see none. In fact, I 

 have never seen any in the marsh in spite of the great amount 



