52 



THE OOLOGIST 



ANNOTATED LIST OF THE BIRDS 

 OF BROOKE COUNTY, W. VA. 



Brooke County is the southernmost 

 county of West Virginia's panhandle. 

 Along its entire western side 

 runs the Ohio river, from whose 

 immediate batiks the hills of the 

 lesser Blue Ridge ranges rise. The 

 whole county is hilly; part of it rather 

 gently rolling, but a great deal of it 

 broken up by deep ravines and narrow 

 gorges. A person's feelings after 

 jaunting through these hills for a day 

 quite faithfully attest to their height 

 and ruggedness. Bald, outstanding 

 cliffs are unusual, and at only one 

 place, three miles east of Wellsburg, 

 do they attain any considerable height. 

 Near the border line of Ohio county 

 on the south there are also very rugged 

 hillsides and a large area covered with 

 interesting upstanding boulders, which 

 suggest a glacial origin, though I un- 

 derstand they are merely the products 

 of erosion. A great deal of the till- 

 able land is in use, epecially in the 

 valleys and on the more gentle hill 

 slopes, but possibly quite an equal 

 amount has not been cultivated, so 

 that much of the forest is primeval, 

 and naturally conducive to an abund- 

 ance of bird life. Marshy land is al- 

 most entirely absent, and naturally 

 so with the land so thoroughly drained. 

 However, there are small suggestions 

 of swamps along Juerdon Run, to the 

 northwest of Bethany, and there are 

 small sedge rimmed ponds of an 

 ephemeral type near West Liberty. 

 These small places have been watched 

 with great care in hopes that members 

 of the Rallidae would be discovered, 

 but the searches have been for the 

 most part fruitless. It should be borne 

 in mind, however, that there are 

 swampy lands directly bordering the 

 medium sized streams. Buffalo Creek, 

 for instance, which runs through the 

 county and joins the Ohio at Wells- 



burg, is quite swampy at certain sea- 

 sons of the year and at favorable 

 places. A lack of the swamp loving 

 birds in the following list may be part- 

 ly accounted for by this evident lack 

 of their favorite habitat. The creeks 

 are usually swift flowing, narrow, and 

 of short length, originating in springs 

 on the hillsides and tumbling down 

 through shaded rocky glens. There 

 are numerous beautiful falls; none 

 especially high, but many of interest- 

 ing structure. 



The trees of the region are almost 

 entirely deciduous. Hemlocks seem to 

 have found quite a footing on some of 

 the higher hills, however, and are 

 quite common in restricted areas. The 

 beech is notably a common species in 

 the more open woodland, and there 

 are handsome growths of oak, particu- 

 larly near Bethany. Basswood trees 

 are not unusual and elm fringe the 

 creeks along with sycamores and wil- 

 lows. Small bushy elms often make 

 a very thick tangle along a low bank. 

 Buckeye trees with their clusters of 

 spring blossoms are at once notice- 

 able and attractive, and species of ash 

 and maple abound in some areas. Old 

 apple orchards are common on the 

 gentle hillsides and on top of the lower 

 hills, the summer berries are common 

 and general in distribution, and are 

 very inviting to many of the summer 

 residents. The stock of winter ber- 

 ries is not so plentiful. The 

 absence of chestnut trees is note- 

 worthy, tho walnuts and hickories are 

 quite plentiful. The birds with a taste 

 for nuts all depend upon the beech 

 woods for their supply, seemingly. 

 Some of the most beautifully animated 

 scenes I have witnessed have been 

 among the beech woods, where the 

 squirrels and birds were a-nutting. 



The climate of the county is for the 

 most part very pleasant. The winters 

 are rarely very long and snows of 



