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foot rustles pleasantly, recalling October at home. There 
is, hoT/ever, no leaf mould nor any matted and decaying 
leaves even in the densest woods. The ants and the rapid 
action of heat and moisture make quick v/ork here. Few 
stumps or fallen logs last more than six years and many 
disappear within three years after they fall or are cut down. 
Hence the woods and older clearings are remarkably free 
from stubs and fallen logs — a fact which doubtless 
explains the comparative scarcity of Woodpeckers v?hen these 
grand old forests are compared v^rith those in the wilder 
parts of the United States. In the recent clearings, how¬ 
ever, one sees many tall bleached or f ire-charred stubs like 
those on our southern plantations. 
At evening I went, for the last time, up the road 
to the high woods near the bridge. There were few Swifts 
or Bats. Tinamous and a Coq-bois were calling. As twilight 
deepened, the Lurocalis came within four feet of my head 
and then flew up and down the road hawking for insects. 
The little Jumby Birds ( O-laucidium ) were very noisy for a 
short time after sunset and later I heard the Cooker er-r-r- coo 
Owl and the Owl that calls hoo , hoo , hoo , ho . The little 
frogs that say oui so sweetly were out in great force this 
evening and the big tree toads by the river clattered at 
frequent intervals up to about eight o'clock. But after night 
has fairly set in and when there is no moonlight we hear but 
fey/ sounds save the chirping and shrilling of crickets and 
grasshoppers. 
