^°i'8%"] WiDMANN, Brown Creeper Nesting in Missouri. 355 



Teals are only killed for the hunter's table. Gadwalls are plenti- 

 ful but neglected, because not in demand on account of the fishy 

 taste of their meat. Spoonbills and Ringnecks are not desirable. 

 Pintails are taken in great numbers in the fall, but they pass 

 rapidly through on their return in spring. 



Trapping was the main occupation of the people formerly and 

 is still followed to some extent, but duck shooting in fall and 

 winter, and bullfrog-gigging in spring form now a considerable 

 source of the income of the inhabitants of the region in which the 

 revenues from agricultural pursuits are seriously curtailed by the 

 floods. 



The soil is sandy and the products are few. Cotton is the main 

 staple. Corn is raised for home use only and peas for hay. 

 Grasses and clover do not thrive and their 'almost total absence 

 from the ground causes an emptiness which, to one not used to 

 it, is somewhat painful. 



An extra source of income, but one of short duration only, was 

 found when the Egret-plume craze came into vogue, some seven 

 years ago. The Egret, Ardea egretta, or White Crane as it is 

 always called, used to be an abundant breeder in the peninsula, 

 and several large ' crane-roosts ' existed in the Little River and 

 St. Francis region. One crane hunter told me that he cleared 

 $800 from the sale of his crane feathers, and there were many 

 such fellows busy with the extermination of the ' White Crane,' 

 which these men now consider complete, as far as southern 

 Missouri and northern Arkansas are concerned. No plume- 

 hunting of any consequence has been going on for the last four 

 years, and it is therefore delightful to hear that at least one 

 colony of Egrets has escaped the murderous gun and is being 

 preserved on guarded ground. The owner of the ground is said 

 to be satisfied with gathering those plumes which the birds 

 cast o£E during the breeding season and which are found in sala- 

 ble condition on the ground below their roosts. 



