90 



Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



tion as we pass through a mile or two of newly plowed caneficld, toward 

 the dark wall of verdure which marks the outline of the adjoining 

 "swamp," as the woodland, dry or wet, is here called, for it is all wet 

 at some season of the year. 



Leaving the border of the plantation, our course lies along the banks 

 of a small baj T ou, or creek, as we would call it in Ohio; the appear- 

 ance of a ripple on its surface apprizes us of the presence of a Mink, 

 cleaving the inky waters like an arrow, — a flash, a report, and the smoke 

 rolls up from the water disclosing the struggling form of another 

 candidate for scientific immortality. Passing onward through scatter- 

 ing thorny locusts, sycamores and sweet gums, with an abundant 

 undergrowth of blackberry vines, our eyes are delighted with the sight 

 of a pair of beautiful Swallow-tailed Kites, floating over the tree tops 

 or skirting the edge of the woodland in graceful, undulating curves, 

 as they pursue their insect prey; a startled hare, bouncing from her 

 covert, disappears within the friendly labj T rinth of briers. A few steps 

 farther and we reach the moist black soil and deep shades of the 

 swamp proper, where the umbrageous evergreen oaks and stately 

 sweet gums, heavily festooned with Spanish moss, vie with each 

 other in shutting out the light of day. Immense gnarled vines 

 struggle upward through the gloom like giant serpents enfolding the 

 monarchs of the forest in their embrace; on every side a maze of lesser 

 climbers creep, stretch and hang from tree to tree; the fan-like palmetto 

 spreads its serrate leaves to catch the faintest zephj^rs that reach these 

 sjdvan depths ; while high above all the towering cypress lifts its 

 moss-crowned head, with arms outstretched as if to guard the pre- 

 cincts below from desecration. A solitary sunbeam, piercing an open- 

 ing in the canopy of foliage, stretches through the sombre depths like 

 a golden shaft, and tipping the palmetto spines with yellow light, is 

 shattered into a thousand splinters on the surface of the pool below. 



A Blacksnake, snugly ensconced in a mass of tangled vines, eyes us 

 lazily as he basks in its welcome rays; scurrying Lizards of varied 

 hues seek a place of safety from whence to view our movements; and 

 an Opossum, with half a dozen } 7 oung clinging to tail and back, looks 

 up in surprise for an instant before seeking the friendly shelter of a 

 convenient hollow log. 



In a neighboring thicket, the unique notes of the White-ej'ed Vireo, 

 and the metallic lisp of the Blue Yellow-backed Warbler are heard, 

 while the varied song of the Mocking Bird reaches our ears from the 

 now distant border of the plantation. From a thickety knoll a Chuck- 



