Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 
25 
bass, goggle-eyes, dollardees, etc., are caught. Occasionally one 
sees a large river catfish brought in, and the head of one we saw 
must have been from a fish weighing at least fifty pounds. 
The level country along the river is often full of ponds, sloughs 
and bayous. These may extend from only a few rods to a mile or 
so in length, and vary according to their surroundings. In all 
of them, the water is constantly muddy. One sees usually but 
little life in these places, except close to shore where the little top- 
minnows swarm in myriads. Of the smaller ponds, many had 
dried up and we were able to walk over their sun-baked and 
cracked surfaces, with here and there traces of fish, mussels or other 
animals which had perished as the waters receded. In the larger 
lagoons or lakes, as they are called, the angler goes forth for the 
large-mouth bass. He uses a small boat fashioned like a narrow 
shallow river scow, and with a wooden paddle moves to the desired 
haunts of the bass. These fish are taken of fair and sometimes 
large size. The artificial minnow, spoon or plug, bristling with 
a shower of deadly hooks is most in use. A good angler will often 
cast far ahead to some favorite haunt of a particular fish. The 
bass usually strikes as soon as the plug reaches the water, or he 
may wait until further enticed by the little jerks given on the line 
as it is reeled in. This surely is a good imitation of a swimming 
frog and is usually rated as the most killing tackle. Often other 
fishes, especially the blue-gill sunfish, known everywhere as bream, 
goggle-eye, calico-bass and crappie, are also caught on lines, but 
with the baited hook. The large and curious spoon-bill sturgeon 
or paddle-fish, quite a characteristic feature of the deeper channels, 
is taken in nets. Kingfishers, herons, and cormorants were the 
usual water-birds of the region, while in the groves and adjacent 
woodlands we found the wood-pewee, red-bellied woodpecker and 
blue-jay, besides several brilliant warblers. 
The river pond is often interesting in the greatly varying con- 
ditions presented. The water, with its more or less dull and 
muddied monotony, is frequently varied with sudden and pleasing 
contrasts. Due to the great diversity of light one is often astonished 
at the rapid change and apparent shift in the scene. If the air 
should remain perfectly still or without any breeze blowing, the 
surface of the water presents a solid broad covering well out from 
the shore line of rich bright green, truly algal green in all its lux- 
