1908 ] Ornithological Work in North Carolina 39 
upper beak of their bill is so far over grown and tumeth inward 
so much, that they are not able to open it to feed themselves. 
They seldom seek their prey in the forenoon, for they are found 
sitting idle and perched upon trees all the morning. It is reported 
that the quills or feathers of eagles laid amongst those of other 
fowls will rot and consume them, which I have not faith to be- 
lieve. The flesh though scarce fit to be eaten is medicinal 
against the gout, the bones of the skull in powder are good 
against megrim, the brain drank in wine, helps the jaundice, and 
the gaul is of excellent use in most disorders of the eye, and 
applied helps the bitings of serpents and scorpions, etc. 
Delicious as Brick ell’s natural history sketches are, it is almost 
certain that he acquired much of his material from the Indians 
and settlers and has woven into his narrative many of the tradi- 
tions and superstitions of the country. Positive statements as to 
what he actually saw occur but seldom, one of these is when in 
speaking of the smallness of the hummingbird he remarks “I 
have frequently seen butterflies chase them away from the 
flowers.” The butterfly of his day must have been a pretty for- 
midable creature. 
Another of these early gentlemen who traveled through the 
South and left his writings for .the benefit of posterity was Wm. 
Bartram in 1791. His book is entitled “Travels through N. C. 
S. C., Fla., etc.” It seems, however, that he made but one hasty 
trip through North Carolina. He traveled by' land. Entering 
the State in Brunswick county, he proceeded to Southport, passed 
from there up the Clarendon (or Cape Fear river) to Cambletown 
(now Fayetteville), and thence on to Virginia. He speaks briefly 
of the trees, soil and rocks, but makes no reference to the wild 
animal life. Some of his stories are very lightly colored. He 
speaks of the alligators of S. C., rushing at him with terrible roar- 
ings and with steam rushing from their mouths and nostrils which 
threw over him a hurricane of water. In reading his writings one 
is inclined to believe that William Bartram would come under the 
:| class of President Roosevelt’s “Nature Faikirs.” 
Apparently the first real ornithologist to visit North Carolina for 
the purpose of studying the birds was Alexander Wilson , a Scotch- 
