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Near Cairo Ill. I saw several snake birds (Plotus
anhinga) They did not seem so very shy as I had
supposed they were. The suckers call them "water turkies"
I also saw plenty of Cardinal grosbeaks & Carolina
mocking wrens, The mocking birds. Parakeets
& some other southern birds were quite common in the
southern part of this state.

I believe I wrote to you from Duquoin enclosing
specimens of Cicada Cassinii". The note of this insect
is much sharper (shriller) than that of C. Septendecun
and it utters a clicking sound which the other does not

I have got two young screech owls - Their comical
actions afford us much amusement. Queer customers, are
they not

Truly Yours
Robert Kennicott

P.S. You said you were going to write an Ornothology
in the style of Nuttalls. When will you do it.
It would be the means of inducing hundreds
to study ornothology who would never do so otherwise
as most people cannot afford to buy so many books
as they would be required to, if they wished to get all they could
on the subject. While your one book would embody the whole