INTRODLXTORV. jj^ 



cessive years: from June 6-i5. 1880; 12-18, 1881 ; 24-27, 1882 ; on 

 the latter occasion accompanied by Dr. A. K. Fisher, of Sing S'lncr, 

 N. Y. Mr. R. F. Pearsall, of Brooklyn, also visited the same section 

 of the region from May 30 to June 13, 1882, during this time con- 

 fining his attention principally to the nidification of the birds, and has 

 kindly permitted me the use of his notes. I have also had occasion 

 to refer to notes taken by my brothers, Pierrepont C. and G. A. 

 Bicknell, who at different times made trout-fishing and campino- ex- 

 cursions into these mountains, always carefully noting observations 

 on the birds. 



On my first visit to the region head-quarters were made near 

 Summit,'-' from whence exploration was conducted southward 

 through the Big Indian \^alle\-, over a distance of about twenty 

 miles, — nearly to the southern terminus of the mountains; towards 

 the northeast, about ten miles; and to lesser distances in other direc- 

 tions. On the subsequent visits, exploration was mainly confined to 

 the region about the head of the Big Indian Valley and adjacent 

 mountains, which my former trip had demonstrated to be an interest- 

 ing section for that purpose. 



The country here is very sparingly cultivated, and tilled ground is 

 seen only as a necessary accessory to the dwellings of the settlers 

 which extend interruptedly along the valley, becoming increasingly 

 separated and of more primitive construction towards the remoter 

 portions. Still farther beyond, and above, indications of the former 

 presence of lumbermen, in natural sequence to an abandoned saw mill 

 in the valley below, remain along the rough mountain road ; but up 

 on the precipitous slopes, where the ancient forests of deciduous trees 

 have repelled the devastating bark-peeler. Nature, too austere to re- 



*This point is on the line of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad, about thirty miles west from the 

 Hudson River ; the altitude in the immediate vicinity varies from 1,500-1,600 feet in the vallevs to 

 2,482 feet on the highest hill. 



The altitudes and distances given m this paper are from, or approximated from, Prof. A. Guyot's 

 " Map of the Catskill Mountains," 1880. 



