354 WiDMANN, Brown Creeper Nesting in Missouri. 



of 1893 came within one foot of tlie higlaest known to white 

 settlers, that of 1882. 



During these inundations the waters remain from one to two 

 weeks, sufficiently long to drown a variety of plants and to kill 

 others by covering them with a sticky coat of mud. 



Such floods have been so much more effective destroyers of 

 vegetation as they occurfed late in spring, even in June, when 

 submersion is more detrimental than in early spring. 



At a certain time the Little River is, as its name says, only a 

 small affair, but it keeps within its narrow bed only during the 

 driest part of the year ; in winter and all through spring into 

 summer the width of its overflow is from two to six miles. The 

 large area covered by this regular overflow is the territory most 

 conducive to the growth of the cypress, tupelo {Nyssa uniflora), 

 waterelm (Flanera aqtiatica), Acer rubruni dnimmondii, Polygonum 

 densiflorum, and Zizania miliaria, the southern wild rice. Among 

 the shrubs we see the ornamental Ilea virginica, growing on top 

 of a water-soaked stump, and the interesting cork plant, Leitneria 

 floridana, which often attains the size of a small tree. 



The young growth is generally thin ; so much more voluminous 

 is the debris which covers the ground and which, together with 

 the cypress-knees and stumps left by the lumberman, make 

 progress either on foot or in dugout very difficult in places. 



South of the Missouri State line the open river enlarges to such 

 an extent that it is called Big Lake, a region much frequented by 

 all kinds of water birds and a fruitful field for the market-hunter. 

 The merchant at Hornersville told me that in the winter 1893-94 

 the number of ducks sent to market from the region of Big Lake 

 amounted to 150,000, four-fifths of which were Mallards. One 

 hunter held receipts for 8000 Mallards, killed and shipped by 

 him alone. 



It may be that the season was exceptionally good, in accord- 

 ance with Nature's great powers of compensation. The same 

 agency which destroyed the crops in summer caused the presence 

 of unprecedented numbers of ducks in winter. Even Blue-winged 

 Teals, which were not known to winter in this latitude, remained 

 in small numbers. 



All kinds of ducks occur at some time or the other, but the 

 Mallard is the principal duck for winter shooting. Green-winged 



