BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY. 9 



(Pinus strobus), pitch pine (Pinus rigidd), and hemlock ( Tsuga canadensis) 

 are to be found. Spruces, the black spruce (Picca nigra) only, are nowhere 

 abundant and are generally confined to small swamps in Essex, Middleton, 

 Ipswich, and Hamilton. There are a few sphagnum bogs where larch (Larix 

 americand) and white cedar (Chamacyparis sphceroided) occur, the latter being 

 not uncommon in Lynnfield. There are no white nor red spruces, nor balsam 

 firs, except introduced specimens. 



In the numerous overgrown pastures, the red cedar (Juniperus virginiand) 

 and the juniper (J. communis, var. depressd) abound. In these pastures in 

 Swampscott and Salem the dyer's weed {Genista tinctorid), introduced by the 

 early settlers, covers all the ground with its wonderful wealth of yellow blos- 

 soms. A characteristic bush in all pastures and also introduced, is the Euro- 

 pean barberry (Bcrbcris vulgaris). Curious apple trees, dwarfed by the con- 

 stant cropping of cattle so that they spread out only a foot or two above the 

 ground, are common in all old pastures. Occasionally these trees reach such a 

 breadth, that the long neck and tongue of the cow cannot reach the middle, at 

 which point the tree sprouts upwards undisturbed. Apple orchards, many very 

 ancient, are to be found everywhere in the County. 



Of the deciduous trees may be mentioned the following : white birch 

 (Betn/a populifolid), most abundant in all old fields ; canoe birch (B. papyri- 

 ferd), red birch (B. nigra), yellow birch (B. luted), sweet birch (B. lento), 

 much less common; American beech (Fagus ferrugiried), chestnut (Casta nea 

 dcntata), red oak (Quercus rubra), black oak (0. velutind), white oak (Q. alba), 

 swamp white oak (Q. bicolor), American elm {Ulmus amcricana), butternut 

 (Juglans cincrea), shag-bark hickory (Carya alba), swamp hickory (C. amara), 

 pig-nut hickory (C. porcind), white ash (Fraxinus americand), red maple (Acer 

 rnbrnm), silver maple (A. saccharinum), sugar maple (A. saccharum), striped 

 maple (A. pennsylvanicum), black locust (Robinia pseudacacid), hop hornbeam 

 (Ostrya virginica), wild black or rum cherry (Primus serotina). 



In the deep woods of Essex and Manchester, as well as on the exposed 

 hillsides of Cape Ann, the mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) abounds, and the 

 mayflower (Epigcea repens) is found in a few places. In the deep swamps of 

 Gloucester is still found the small magnolia (Magnolia glauca), from which the 

 settlement of Magnolia takes its name. This southern plant does not occur 

 again north of Long Island. The white cedar (Chamacyparis sphceroided) 

 already mentioned, chinquapin oak (Quercus prinoides), sassafras (Sassafras 

 officinale), and tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica), all more or less characteristically 

 southern species, are also found in the County. 



On the other hand, there are several stations for the red or Norway pine 

 (Pinus resinosa), some of these interesting trees of the North being of con- 



