186 



THE OOLOOIST 



a beautiful yellow blossom in the 

 reedy, ferny reaches, in the tender 

 green canebreak and from the leafy 

 green of the balsams and cypresses— 

 a jewel of a bird like its lovely Con 

 gener, the Hooded Warbler of lemon 

 yellow plumage, and jet black throat, 

 is also seen. And nesting in hollows 

 of stubs and trees growing along the 

 ditches and lake, finds an ideal home.' 

 Both the Prothonotary and Hooded 

 Warblers are everywhere abundant in 

 the great swamp and adds a peculiar 

 charm to the great silent places of 

 the deep dark swamp land. I shall 

 not soon forget the beauty of the 

 Prothonotary, especially and the Hood- 

 ed, here in the big Dismal for there 

 could not be a more charming or en- 

 chanted place for them to haunt and 

 they seem as exactly suited to the 

 great swamp land as the balsams, the 

 gnarled, dead cypress roots and 

 stumps and the great living cypress 

 and junipers and pines. Singing from 

 all sorts of places, the full round notes 

 of the Golden Swamp Warblers vies 

 in sweetness with those of the abund- 

 ant Water Thrushes, and resounds up- 

 on the stillness ringing by in golden 

 melody in keeping with its golden 

 plumage amid the green woodland 

 haunts. 



Oh happy Prothonotony singing as if 

 their hearts would break. Little did 

 we think that that time was the last 

 time that good Dr. Ralph was to ever 

 hear them in this life and that they 

 were indeed singing a last farewell. 

 He has gone to a fairer land where 

 there are fairer birds and fairer flow- 

 ers. A lover of nature and a big 

 heart. May his dreams of beautiful 

 nature be fully realized and may we 

 meet on the golden Elysium sands 

 where sing golden birds more beauti- 

 ful than the Golden Prothonotarles of 

 the Great Dismal. He has gone on a 

 great and glorious voyage to the great 



unknown. Though his friends may 

 miss his genial countenance and man- 

 ner, he is safe in the great and beauti- 

 ful Paradise where there is no pain 

 and sorrow — and a fairer and more 

 enchanting place than ever in that 

 wonder land of nature, (right at the 

 doorstep of national progress and in- 

 dustry) the Great Dismal Swamp. How 

 a nature lover's heart does long for 

 that good day when a better and fairer 

 field of all nature is safely reached. 



I joined the genial doctor and one 

 afternoon found us. abroad a passenger 

 boat and on the broad waters of the 

 Potomac, bound for the Great Dismal 

 Swamps and for Suffolk as our des- 

 tinuation. A good night's rest on board 

 the boat and we awoke early the next 

 morning and reached Suffolk before 

 lunch hour. We met Royster at Suf- 

 folk, and although he was not feeling 

 well, having been ill with malaria for 

 some time he was ready to leave with 

 us immediately. So after a chat with 

 his charming mother, we loaded our 

 paraphenalia into a cart and were off 

 for the edge of the swamp, starting in 

 at a point near Suffolk about two or 

 three miles distant near a college and 

 several negro cabins on the Jericho 

 Ditch. We packed our outfit into the 

 boat and were soon on our way down 

 the Jericho towards the lake. 



At this point and for several miles 

 the vegetation is largely scrubby and 

 there are very few trees of large size 

 — the growth consists largely of pop- 

 lars, pines, sycamores, small balsam 

 and reedy growth. 



The bird life here is not that of the 

 deeper swamp but consists of such 

 species as are found in the outside 

 region — Towhees, Cardinals, Catbirds, 

 Vireos, Thrasher's Buntings, Gros- 

 beaks, Yellow Warblers and others. 

 An hour and we were well on our way 

 down the Jericho, and had seen several 

 Hooded and Prothonotaries and Paru- 



