Brewster on the Prothonotary Warbler. 161 
in many places flooded with water for a considerable distance back 
into the woods, to where the iand rose in broken ridges and the 
cypresses gave way to a growth of oaks, black-walnuts, lindens, and 
numerous other forest trees. The depth of the water, even in the 
centre of the pond, did not exceed five feet, and over the greater 
part of its extent rank grasses, yellow water-lilies, and other 
aquatic plants reared their tall stalks or broad leaves in such pro- 
fusion, that everywhere, except immediately around the canoe, the 
eye rested upon what seemed a meadow of waving green. The few 
acres of comparatively open water Tvere sprinkled with water-lilies 
( Nymphcea odorata) or thickly studded with the delicate, star- 
shaped blossoms of the Cabomba caroliniana , the moss-like stems of 
which extended in a perfect labyrinth beneath the surface. As we 
pushed our way through the denser growths, the stems yielded 
before the bow with a slight rustling sound. Wood Ducks and 
Hooded Mergansers rose on every side, while their broods of downy 
ducklings scuttled off among the water-plants, sometimes huddling 
close together, a dusky mass of bobbing little forms, at others, when 
closely pressed, separating and diving like water-sprites. Overhead, 
Buzzards were wheeling in graceful, interminable circlings, while in 
their nests upon the tops of some gigantic sycamores, a little hack 
from the shore, stood a number of Great Blue Herons, their tall 
graceful forms boldly outlined against the sky. From the lower 
depths of the forest came innumerable bird voices, — the slow, solemn 
chant of the Wood Thrush, the clear, whistled challenge of the 
Cardinal, the sweet wild notes of the Louisiana Water Thrush, the 
measured pter-dle, pter-dle , pter-dle of the Kentucky Warbler, and 
the emphatic song of the Hooded Flycatcher. Higher up among 
the^trees Woodpeckers rattled upon dead limbs, a Tanager sang 
at intervals, the Tufted Titmouse reiterated its monotonous peto, 
peto, and numerous Blue Warblers added their guttural little trills 
to the general chorus. From all along the pond edges came the 
Sandpiper-like song of the Prothonotary Warblers. As we ad- 
vanced, the button-bushes gave way to stretches of black willows, 
which at the head of the pond formed the exclusive growth over 
an area of perhaps six acres. This tract had at one time evidently 
formed part of the pond, for as we pushed our canoe in among the 
trees we found the water scarcely shallower than in the open 
portions. 
Although the willows grew rather thinly, the spaces between the 
