160 FLORIDA 



head. They are Florida gallinules, my first ones 

 for nine years. My glass f oUows their movements 

 jealously till the thunder of an approaching train 

 startles them and they fly to the shelter of the 

 tail grass. I shall come this way again, and not 

 only see but hear them. Their language is vari- 

 ous and interesting, though most of it has the 

 accent of the barnyard. 



A pUeated woodpecker crosses the track just 

 before me, with all his colors flying, a pair of 

 bluebirds sit in their accustomed place upon the 

 telegraph wire, and from the neighboring pines 

 I catch the finch-like twitters of a brown-headed 

 nuthatch. This is close upon the railway station 

 and the golf links. My afternoon is done, but 

 the golf players are still making the most of day- 

 light. I blush to confess it, but there are some 

 enthusiasms with which even that of a strolling 

 naturalist will hardly endure comparison. 



