. Bird lore . lled Hummer, not five feet away, probing into thescarlet trumpets of a pentstemon. Of course, while the Hummer had my attention,the Owl disappeared. Lying on a small patch of sand near a tiny pool, I dozed, and enjoyed the songsof my new friends—the flood of ascending notes of the Canon Wren, the plain-tive whistle of the White-crowned Sparrow, the happy outburst of the LazuliBunting, with many others. As is so often the case, when one lies still, the birds,and other animals, come close around. A Blue-throated Hummer, after drinkingdaintily, rested on a very nearby twig, panting,
. Bird lore . lled Hummer, not five feet away, probing into thescarlet trumpets of a pentstemon. Of course, while the Hummer had my attention,the Owl disappeared. Lying on a small patch of sand near a tiny pool, I dozed, and enjoyed the songsof my new friends—the flood of ascending notes of the Canon Wren, the plain-tive whistle of the White-crowned Sparrow, the happy outburst of the LazuliBunting, with many others. As is so often the case, when one lies still, the birds,and other animals, come close around. A Blue-throated Hummer, after drinkingdaintily, rested on a very nearby twig, panting, but with only the tips of the billapart. An inquisitive Phainopepla lit on a swaying vine only a couple of yardsdistant, and, as he swayed, raised his crest, flirted his wings (showing thewhite patch) and puttered softly while his lead-black eyes shone on me. It is useless, however, to try to do the day justice; and as I close this sketchI find that I have mentioned only a few more than half the birds Notes on Birds in the Florida Keys By MRS. LUCAS BRODHEAD. Versailles, Ky. I SPENT from January 9 to April 1,1906, on upper Matecumbe, an islandfive miles long, about eighty miles south of Miami, Florida. The climatewas very fine, the daily readings of the thermometer being from 50 to 74degrees for the three months. There are seven or eight families residing onthe Key,—a primitive, polite, simple-hearted, poor, God-fearing people,three generations back from Nassau, and preserving in a remarkable manneran intense form of cockneyism of speech. There are no mammals on the island except cats, which have a fine chanceat the birds in the undergrowth, and a few melancholy dogs, which subsist,like the people, largely upon fish. The undergrowth is very dense, only pene-trable where a number of paths have been cut leading to the clearings, calledfarms, in the interior. Everywhere, and at all times, one must guard againstthe very troublesome red-bugs. I did not find birds to be a
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