. Bird-lore . covered chiefly with a fine growth of long-leaf and slash pines, saw-palmettos and huckleberries, and form a congenial habitat for such species asthe Sandhill Crane, Bob-white, Red-cockaded, PUeated, and Red-belliedWoodpeckers, Southern Meadowlark, Pine-woods Sparrow, White-eyedTowhee, Pine Warbler, Brown-headed Nuthatch, and Bluebird. Some ofthe smaller islands support a luxuriant hammock growth of spruce pine,hve oak, several kinds of bays, sweet gum, gallberry, cane, etc. A large proportion of the swamp consists of dense cypress bays, wheresome of the finest cypress timber in
. Bird-lore . covered chiefly with a fine growth of long-leaf and slash pines, saw-palmettos and huckleberries, and form a congenial habitat for such species asthe Sandhill Crane, Bob-white, Red-cockaded, PUeated, and Red-belliedWoodpeckers, Southern Meadowlark, Pine-woods Sparrow, White-eyedTowhee, Pine Warbler, Brown-headed Nuthatch, and Bluebird. Some ofthe smaller islands support a luxuriant hammock growth of spruce pine,hve oak, several kinds of bays, sweet gum, gallberry, cane, etc. A large proportion of the swamp consists of dense cypress bays, wheresome of the finest cypress timber in the world grows in several feet of such places there is a tangled undergrowth of bushes, shrubs, and ferns,well-nigh impassable, except by a few narrow water-trails or runs, wherethe traveler pushes his tiny boat in a tortuous and wearisome course betweencypress knees, over floating or submerged logs, and under fallen trees. Here,beneath the shady canopy of moss-garlanded cypresses, abound such birds. 404 Bird - Lore as the Florida Red-shouldered Hawk, Florida Barred Owl, Yellow-billedCuckoo, Pileated Woodpecker, Crested Flycatcher, Acadian Flycatcher,Cardinal, White-eyed Vireo, Prothonotary Warbler, Swainsons Warbler,Parula Warbler, and CaroUna Wren. It was on the prairies, however, that I entertained hopes of finding some ofthe rarest and most interesting of the wading birds. These prairies vary greatlyin extent,—from ten or fifteen square miles to only an acre or two,—and arescattered throughout the swamp. Among the largest are Chase Prairie andFloyds Island Prairie, both of which I carefully reconnoitered. Heavy springrains in 1912 had caused an extraordinary depth of water in all parts of theOkefenoke, and in May the prairies were practically lakes, the deeper partsgrown with such plants as the white and yellow water-HUes, and the shal-lower places with maiden cane, saw-grass, and pickerel weed. I w^as informedby inhabitants of the swamp, some of whom possess
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirdsperiodicals
