42 PROCEEDINGS MANCHESTER INSTITUTE 



The Bronzed Grackle is also of regular occurrence well up the 

 Connecticut and even about Lake Unibagog, yet I have no 

 knowledge of it in central New Hampshire north of Winnipe- 

 saukee. The Yellow Warbler (Dendroica cestiva) is also to be 

 added to this category of birds absent from the Transition 

 valleys of the White Mountain area but common in southern 

 New Hampshire and far up the Connecticut valley. The 

 Golden-winged Warbler {Helminthophila chrysopterd) and the 

 Prairie Warbler {Dendroica discolor) may be mentioned as two 

 Transition species whose breeding range barely extends to the 

 southern borders of the slate in the Merrimack valley. 



Of the occurrence of southern plants in the Transition zone 

 of New Hampshire, it may be noted that the Chestnut (Casta- 

 uea) and the Hickory (Carya) occur nearly as far up the 

 valleys as does the White Oak ; the Red Oak, however, ranges 

 yet farther, entering the sub-Canadian zone. The Mountain 

 Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) also occurs locally as far north as 

 Conway. In his chapter on the Physical History of New 

 Hampshire, Professor Hitchcock adduces evidence indicating 

 that subsequent to the glacial epoch, and probably within the 

 human period, there was an era when the climate of New 

 Hampshire was milder than it now is. In support of this con- 

 clusion, is mentioned, among other things, the occurrence of a 

 few southern plants in isolated spots far from their present range 

 of abundance. Thus the Rhododendron maximum is reported 

 from Fitzwilliam, Grantham, Hooksett, Hopkinton, Manchester, 

 and Richmond, and its presence at these places in isolated 

 swamps is taken as indicative of its former abundance in inter- 

 mediate localities. At Manchester, also, there occur with the 

 Rhododendron, a few Tupelo trees (Nyssa sy/va/ica) and from 

 Winchester, in the extreme southwest corner of the state, the 

 Climbing Fern (Lyg odium. palmatuni) , a southern species, has 

 been recently recorded (Rhodora, 1902, p. 83). 



An interesting bird, which seems to have become adapted to 

 the small and scattered cold-water swamps of the Transition 

 zone grown Up to sedges, and coarse grass, steeple bushes or 

 hellebore, is the Henslow's Sparrow (Ammodtamus henslowii) 



