q8 Brewster on the Birds of Western North Carolina. [January 



tween outU ing spurs of the mountains are called) black walnuts 

 {^yiiglans 7ti.g)'d) ^ tulip trees (^Liriodendron tulipife^-d) ^ bass- 

 woods {^Tllia^. and oaks of many different species. 



A conspicuous feature of the plateau region at large is its 

 extensive tracts of rhododendrons or 'laurels.' These form the 

 principal undergrowth along streams, over damp hillsides, and 

 throughout swampy or springy land, and, in many places, they 

 grow in such tangled thickets that it is impossible for a man to 

 penetrate them without the aid of an axe. On drier ground, 

 however, the old growth is entirely devoid of underbrush. Its 

 surface is so smooth and free from rocks or holes that one may 

 often leave the road and drive for miles between the trees without 

 meeting any more serious obstruction than an occasional crum- 

 bling log or fallen top. In many places, especially on the higher 

 plateaus where the growth is largely of white oaks, the trees are 

 scattered about in groups or singly at intervals of one or more 

 hundred feet, with grass}^ openings between, giving the country 

 a park-like appearance. Generally, in fact almost universally, 

 the old timber is of the finest quality, many of the trees rising 

 fifty or more foet to the first limb, and at the base measuring fifteen 

 to twenty in circumference. But that deadly enemy of all forests, 

 the lumberman, has already begun his inroads, and the grand old 

 oaks, tulip trees, and black walnuts that have resisted the storms 

 of centuries must soon fall before his merciless axe. 



The region thus roughly outlined and described has been long 

 known to tourists and sportsmen, and for manv years has formed 

 an attractive and popular summer resort. Various writers have 

 praised its picturesque scenery and delightful climate. The bot- 

 anists have been active there, and, thanks to the laljors of Gray, 

 Chickering, Vasey, and others, its flora is comparatively well 

 known. But its ornithology has been so nearly neglected that 

 I know of only one contribution based on actual field work, a 

 paper by Professor Cope in an old number of the American Nat- 

 uralist.* In this paper the writer mentions finding "'in the high 

 valley of Henderson County, and on the Black, Rich, and other 

 mountains in southern North Carolina," such northern birds and 

 mammals as Jiuico hyemalis^ Vireo solitarius, Dendroica cor- 

 onata, D. maculosa^ D. vire?is, D. blackhiirnice^ D. avrtiles- 



* Vol. IV, No. 7, Sept. 1870, pp. 392-402. 



