8 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



and northern portions, there being a bold, almost mountainous, 

 range uf bills with an elevation of 50(1 to more than (JlKJ feet above 

 the surrounding country, or a total altitude approximating 1,000 

 feet above sea-level, the lowlands along the norllnrn side of the 

 range averaging only about 55 feet above the river at Cairo. 

 (Worthen's Geology of Illinois, Vol. I., pages 3 and 4.) 



Continuations of this range extend, with occasional breaks or in- 

 terruptions, to the northward, along the western border of the 

 State. "A range of heights commences at the blulTs that bound 

 the American Bottom, near Kaskaskia, and stretches northwardly 

 through the State toward Lake Michigan. A noble limestone bluff 

 breaks olT, almost at right anglos to this chain, and stretches along 

 the margin of the American Bottom to the point nearly opposite 

 the Missouri. This bluff has, in many places, a regular front of 

 perpendicular limestone, not unfrequently 800 feet high. Another 

 line of river blulfs commences opposite the mouth of the Missouri, 



and reaches the mouth of the Illinois. Opposite Portage des Sioux, 

 these lihiffs shoot up into detached points and pinnacles, which, 

 with the hoary color of the rocks, have, at a distance, the appear, 

 ance of the ancient spires and towers of a town." ("Illinois in 

 1837 & 8; a sketch descriptive of the country," etc. Philadelphia: 

 S. Augustus Mitchel, 1838.) "Along the banks of the Upper Mis- 

 sissippi there stretch for hundreds of miles the ruined fa9ades of 

 stately castles and magnificent temples, built by Nature's hand. 

 Seamed and scarred are they, too, as if by the lightning, and here 

 and there appear ghastly rents and yawning chasms half concealed 

 by vines sweeping from every ledge, and shrubs rooted in every 

 crevice. One should see them in the beauty of the morning, as 

 cool, silent and dark; with the dew heavy on rock and shrub, and 

 trembling vine ; mild convolvuli, full-blossomed and rejoicing in the 

 shadow, swinging gaily from every projecting rock. And all through 

 the autumn, while the oaks and maples and the vines, in russet 

 and scarlet and gold, hold their death together, and with the clus- 

 tering masses of golden-rod and purple asters, mock the cedars and 

 hemlocks in their dress of sombre green." (M. L. W., in The 

 Pastime, Washnigton, D. C. Vol. II, No. 5, May, 1884.) 



There is probably no better index or key to the distribution of 

 birds in any country than that afforded by the character of the 

 vegetation; should this vary essentially within a given area, a cor- 

 responding difference in the bird-life is a certainty. The author may, 

 therefore, be excused for going somewhat into detail on this subject. 



