foaming, on nearer view, with spreading dog- 

 bane blossoms. Off toward the bay another of 

 these shoals, mole-hill high in the distance, ran 

 across the marsh for i^alf a mile, bearing a single 

 broken file of trees— sentinels they seemed, some 

 of them fallen, others gaunt and wind-beaten, 

 watching against the sea. 



These were the lookouts and the resting-places 

 for passing birds. During the day, whenever I 

 turned in their direction, a crow, a hawk, or 

 some smaller bird was seen upon their dead 

 branches. 



Naturally the variety of bird life upon the 

 marsh is limited ; but there is by no means the 

 scarcity here which is so often noted in the for- 

 ests and wild prairies of corresponding extent. 

 Indeed, the marsh was birdy— rich in numbers 

 if not in species. Underfoot, in spots, sang the 

 marsh- wrens ; in larger patches the sharp-tailed 

 sparrows ; and almost as wide-spread and constant 

 as the green was the singing of the seaside spar- 

 rows. Overhead thefish-hawkscrossed frequently 

 to their castle nest high on the top of a tall 

 white oak along the land edge of the marsh ; in 

 the neighborhood of the sentinel trees a pair of 

 [52] 



