ORNITHOLOGIST 



-AND- 



OOLOGIST. 



$1.00 per 

 Annum. 



PUBLISHED liY FRANK B. WEBSTER. 



Established, March, 1875. 



Single Copy 

 10 cents. 



Vol. XVI. 



HYDE PARK, MASS., MARCH, 1891. 



No. 3. 



Wanderings, No. jo. 



TI{AMPIN(i IN TIIK WHITE MOUNTAINS. 



Oil tlie morning of .June 26, 1890, after our 

 trip over 51 1. Kearsarge, we were little inclined 

 to a long tramp, and so turned our way, by 

 tlie aid of a buekboard, toward the foot of 

 the Moat Mountains, wbi<:li rose on the west- 

 eily side of the valley of the Saco. As we 

 rode out upon the bridge wliich spans the 

 river, we could look away up the valley and 

 see the cloud-capped peak of Mt. Washington, 

 lying directly in the liead of the valley, and 

 wo thought, "How soon we will be nearer to 

 yon," but we never reached its sides. 



In front of us stood White Iloise Ledge, 

 world-famed for the strange conllguration of 

 rock ui)ou it.s steep and rugged side, wliicii at 

 certain points of view presents a stiangely per- 

 fect lignre of a, rearing horse, hitched to an 

 old-fashioned, higli dasher sleigh. 



Our first point is Echo Lake, a luctty little 

 sheet of water with neither inlet or outlet, 

 — but well stocked with lish, — einbo.sonied in 

 a depression at the foot of the mountains, and 

 surrounded by beauliful groves. 



liird life is scarce, nought but the cominon- 

 est forms being seen, and we turn away toward 

 Cathedral llocks, which loom up behind the 

 lake. 



This is a stupendous clitf which rises up 

 peri)endicularly to a bcigbt of -100 feet, and 

 w.mdeil to its base by a line old growth, foiin- 

 ing a most beautiful, shady resort. 



These i-lilTs and trees are peopled by the 

 birds in great numbers, and we started a 

 llarred Owl from its hiding-place, where he 

 was blinking aw.ay the bright, sunny hours, 

 and drove him forth to stand tlie assaults of 

 the smaller birds, who were soon heard making 

 life miserable for liini. 



'I'laditiou has it lliat here breed the rare 

 " Ledge Hawks." or Peregrine Falcons, but we 



failed to locate any place which could be 

 sworn to, and it is probable that they now 

 have deserted this place, though I have no 

 doubt that a few miles back in the mountains 

 they will be found. 



At the foot of this ledge is a large cavity 

 known as the Devil's Den (what a ubiquitous 

 personage his Satanic majesty was; we find 

 his Dens, Foot-prints and Chairs all over the 



VALLEY OF RIPLEY'S BROOK. 



known world, and befoie I got out of the Den, 

 I was perfectly willing not to cpiestion any 

 rights which the original owner might hold 

 in it). 



It is formed by rocks, weighing hundreds of 

 tons, which have fallen from the cliiTs over- 

 head, and overlapping have made this cavern, 

 in whose dark and dismal depths, lighted only 

 by our torches, we found, at this late date, ice 

 several inches in thickness, and one quite 

 large piece outside the cave, under a project- 

 ing ledge. 



We came back here on the 1st of .July, and 

 found that some infernal fool had built a 

 fire inside the cavern, which had nearly 

 melted the ice away, thus destroying a very 



CopyrtKht, 18.11, hy Fiiajjk B. Webster. 



