GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AND SKETCHES AFIELD 299 



some distance away make a noise as if pounding the ground 

 with a cane. I hurriedly went to him and found that he had 

 disabled a large snake, which was partially coiled on the ground. 

 My friend told me that he had flattened its head with blows 

 from his cane. This appearance, however, was due to the habit 

 of this snake, when alarmed, of distending its head and neck 

 laterally into a flat cobra-like appearance, such as is common 

 among certain poisonous snakes. My friend described the 

 sound made by this individual as being not unlike that of the 

 cicada or, perhaps, it is better compared to the noise made by 

 a clock spring when it is running down. These snakes are 

 richly marked behind the head with wedge-shaped black bands. 

 There are three rows of black spots along the back. The middle 

 row is of large size, while the side rows often alternate with 

 the middle row, the spaces between the spots being yellowish. 

 The tail in this species is very short. I have given a 

 photographic portrait of this snake as a tailpiece to this article. 

 It is commonly known by the name of puff-adder, or hog-nose, 

 as well as by its scientific name, Heterodon platyrhinus. 



Again, on my way I found several species of St. John's 

 wort, though the pretty yellow flowers are somewhat scarce. 

 The various blueberries were abundant on the wooded dunes 

 and were refreshing, at times through the day keeping my 

 throat from being parched by the heat. The smaller wild 

 species, with the bloom on the berries, was soon found to possess 

 the best flavor. The berries without bloom of another species 

 have larger and harder seeds, are blacker, and inferior to the 

 taste. The ever-present boneset was seen at the margins of 

 the bogs. The peculiar leaves of this plant, it will be recalled, 

 are joined at their bases, so that the stems appear as if they 

 perforate the leaves. The sand cherry, Prunus pumila, grew 

 at the margin of the Calumet River. The cherries were 

 lusciously ripe, and after eating a few, one is apt to feel a dislike 

 for their pungent flavor. 



Perhaps the most aesthetic flower here was the rose pink, 

 Sabattia calycina. I have never seen it growing in such abun- 

 dance as I found it here along the edges* of the ponds. The 

 five-petalled pink flowers form in some instances a flat top. 

 Each flower is beset at the centre with a small yellowish green 



