Summer Birds of Port Alleghany, McKean County, 

 Pennsylvania 



BY THOJIAS D. KEIM 



The following observations were made during a trip taken by 

 the writer and Mr. H. W. Fowler in the summer of 1904, cov- 

 ering the week of July 30th to August Gth. The lateness of the 

 season and the consequent absence of songs accounts somewhat 

 for the small number of species seen, while the fact that our 

 time was occuiiied by other duties, also contributes to the in- 

 completeness of the list. 



Passing northward on the railroad, the work of the lumber- 

 men was noted as soon as we left Williamsport, and on all sides 

 could be seen the bare summits of the mountains, with here and 

 there some few acres of trees, mostly hard wood, to remind the 

 traveler of the primeval forest which covered this country in 

 former years. 



A word in passing about the hard-wood timber may not be 

 amiss, as it is the innocent agent of much evil. Following 

 close!}' after the axe of the woodman, there have been established 

 throughout these lumber regions chemical works for the manu- 

 facture of wood alcohol, the beech being the principal tree in 

 use for this purpose. During the manufaclure of the alcohol a 

 resinous, tar-like compound is allowed to escape into the 

 streams. Wc found in our experience that in whatever stream 

 this tar was present, the animal life was practically extinct, 

 especially the fish. 



Kcating's Summit, on the railroad, is the highest point of the 

 watershed, and from here the grade descends all the way to 

 Port Alleghan}', where we made our headquarters. The eleva- 

 tion of the town is fourteen hundred and seventy-seven feet 

 above sea level, but the mountains rise on both sides of the val- 

 ley some three hundred and fifty feet higher. The walking at 



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