I02 Brewster 07i the Birds of Western North Carolina. [January 



During mv stay in the mountains I was everywhere treated 

 with such kindness and hospitality that a list of those to whom I 

 am indebted would be too long for mention here. But as essen- 

 tial to the connection I must ackno-Cvledge my obligations to Mr. 

 E. L. Boynton, of Highlands, for specimens and notes which 

 have proved of much importance by establishing the breeding of 

 certain birds observed during my visit to Highlands in the latter 

 part of May. Without this confirmatory evidence I might have 

 hesitated, at least in some cases, before assuming that the species 

 in question were really settled for the summer, and not belated 

 migrants on their way to higher or more northern regions. 



1. * Aix sponsa. Wood Duck. — A common summer resident, breed- 

 ing numerously along all the larger streams. 



2. Gallinula galeata. Florida Gallinule. — A barber in Asheville 

 had a live specimen displayed conspicuously in a cage on the sidewalk in 

 front of his shop. It had been taken about May 15 in a meadow some 

 ten miles from town, and was an object of wonder and admiration to all who 

 passed. Seemingly contented with captivity, it was singularly tame and 

 gentle, allowing itself to be handled without trying either to resist or es- 

 cape. 



3. Actitis macularia. Spotted Sandpiper. — Found along most of 

 the streams, but nowhere at all numerously. I saw less than a dozen in 

 all. 



4. Philohela minor. Woodcock. — Well known to the Asheville sports- 

 men, who assured me that one or two pairs breed regularly in an extensive 

 swamp near that toun. The species occurs most numerously in autumn. 



5. Ardea virescens. Green Heron.- — ^Several seen along the rivers in 

 the lower valleys. 



6. Bonasa umbellus. Ruffed Grou.se. — I did not find the 'Pheasant' 

 (as the bird is universally called in this region) anywhere below 4000 

 feet, but above that altitude it was seen daily. During my visit to the 

 Black Mountain range (June i, 2) the males were drumming incessantly, 

 especially at, and for a brief time after, sunset; but they were so shy that 

 I failed to secure a specimen. At Highlands I examined several skins 

 taken in the immediate vicinitj' and found them essentially similar to the 

 bright reddish bird of Eastern Virginia. The mountain people of Western 

 North Carolina say that the Pheasant is quite as numerous in the valleys 

 as at high elevations. This may be true of autumn and winter, but I 

 doubt if it is of the breeding season also. The species occurs as far east as 

 Old Fort, where it is well known to the hunters, one of whom showed me 

 the tail of a specimen that he had killed. At Salisbury, among the foot- 

 hills one hundred miles or more further eastward, I was told that it is 

 never seen. 



* The arrangement and nomenclature are in accordance with the new A. O. U. 

 (;heck-List. 



