18 PROCEEDINGS OF THE [Feb. 1860. 



some time. The beech-ntits, after having been fed upon consecutively by flocks 

 of wild pigeons, at certain seasons or in certain portions of the country, and of 

 grakles, by blue jays, &c., furnish at the same time food to the raccoon, opossum, 

 and squirrel ; and, in general, an abundance is left for the hog and deer. 



TlioWhite Oak {Quei'cus alba) is distinguished by its almost scarlet leaves with 

 a glaucous or violet tinge, producing an unique and agTcable contrast with the 

 verdure of the evergreens, and the more defined tints of other trees in the 

 neighbourhood. They have scarcely commenced to fall. From the 3d to the 

 10th of Dec. they began to fall raj^idly, and by the 20th the trees were nearly 

 defoliated. Young trees retain them longer. The fact asserted by Michaux, 

 that it is the only species of Oak which in the heart of Winter retains some 

 fh-icd leaves which do not drop until the flow of the saj), is not so obvious. 

 This is much more the case with the Spanish Oak, and still more so with the 

 Water Oak. Kalm, on the 12th Feb. , between Raccoon and Philadelphia, noted 

 that most of the young trees, which were not above a quarter of a yard in dia- 

 meter, had the greatest part of tlieir leaves still on them, but the old trees had 

 lost most of theirs, except in some places where they had got new shoots. 

 According to our observations large trees were entirely naked before February. 

 The Swamp Cliestnut Oak, likewise called White Oak, {Q. prinus,) is red, 

 much like tlic former, but with less of the violet cast. By the 20th Dec. they 

 wore bare of leaves, except, here and there, some of the younger growth. 



The Post Oak, another of the White Oak kind, {Q. obtusihha,) had its leaves 

 brown, slightly reddisli, and crisp. It was seldom seen of any considerable size 

 along our route of observation, being mostly of small, shrubby growth. In 

 these the leaves arc retained during the entire Winter, giving a monotonous 

 and dreary aspect to the barren tracts in which they abol^nd. A few isolated 

 largo trees had, however, cast their leaves after Christmas. After the leaves 

 have fallen, it may easily be distinguished from any other similar gTowth in 

 company, by its whiter bark, and numeroiis branches, which rise rather low 

 down on the trunk, forming wide angles with the secondary branches, and 

 remarlcable for their tendency to frequent croofe or elbows. The acorns of 

 the White Oalt, as well as those of the Water Oak, (Q. aquatim,) and a few 

 others, are much more available as mast than those of the Live Oak, {Q. 

 virens, ) as they last much longer on the ground. Those of the latter soon rot 

 after they have dropped, while those of the former last till Spring. 



Intermingled here and there with the Post Oaks, though commonly, occupy- 

 more exclusively higher, dryer, and more sterile soil, is the Black Jack, {Q. 

 nifjra,) readily distinguishable by its black and rugged bark, and its large, 

 wedgc-sliapcd leaves, obscurely threc-lobed at the summit and cordate at the 

 base, coriaceous and glossy ; at this time, and later, of a brown hue, paler and 

 loss reddisli than those of tlie Post Oak. According to Michaux, they fall soon 

 after the first frosts ; but those trees of the size we refer to retain them until 

 February or longer. 



AnolJior small Oak occupying similar tracts, and similar in aspect, except as 

 to its diftorently sliapod loaves, is the Scrub Oak, {Q. Vatesbm.) Its leaves 

 are now reddish -l)rown. From a dull red, they become browner. Michaux 



