iSS6.1 Brewstek oil the Birds of Western North Carolina. oy 



but above 4500 feet are often somewhat dwarfed and stunted. In 

 places, generally at between 3000 and 5000 feet, one finds scat- 

 tered white pines or hemlocks, but rarely in sufficient numbers to 

 form noticeable breaks in the sea of tender green foliage spread 

 out on evxry side ; in lake-like expanses in the valleys, rippling 

 gently on the lower ridges, and rolling in great billows over the 

 larger iiills and mountains. 



The summits and upper sides of a few of the higher mountains 

 are covered with what is locally and very appropriately termed 

 'black growth.' At a distance this presents the appearance of a 

 perfectly uniform tract or belt of a dark, sombre olive-green. It 

 is often confined to tlie northern slopes, and always extends 

 further down on northern than on southern exposures. Its lower 

 edge is usually sharply and abruptly defined at an elevation of 

 somewhere between ^000 and 6000 feet. This black growth is 

 made up chiefly of spruces {A5ies nigra^ and firs {^A. J'rasei'i) , 

 which, on the Black Mountains at least, are in the numerical 

 proportion of about one fir to five or six spruces.* Intermixed 

 rather plentifully with these evergreens are birches {Bei?ila 

 lutea) and mountain ashes {Pyr?is americana) , "the former of 

 fair size, the latter stunted. I noticed no other trees and few 

 shrubs except occasional rhododendrons. 



Much of the low country, especially those portions bordering 

 or near the larger streams, is under cultivation, tobacco being 

 the favorite and most profitable crop. Extensive areas, however, 

 are everywhere still clothed in forest, either of vigorous second- 

 growth or fine old timber. It is impossible, within the limits of 

 this article, to give anything like a definite idea of these woods, 

 for they vary greatly at different localities and elevations, and in- 

 clude an endless variety of trees and shrubs. In a general way, 

 however, it may be enough to say that the growth along the streams 

 is chiefly red birches ( Bet?tla nigra) ^ sycamoi'es (^Platamcs occi- 

 dental is) , red maples (^Acer riibriini)^ water oaks {^tiercus 

 aqitatica), and sweet gums {Liquidambar styracijlua^ \ that 

 of the lower and sandiev hills, scrubby oaks and pines (princi- 

 palh Pinns inops and P. rigida) ; and of the lower mountain 

 sides and -coves' (as the wide, fertile valleys that extend in be- 



* The mountaineers confound these very distinct trees under the general term 'bal- 

 sams,' bv which they are known throughout the region. 



