iS86.] Brewster on the Birds of Wester?i North Carolina. 103 



7. Colinus virginianus. Bob-white. — Abundant everywhere, in grain 

 fields in the valleys, oak woodland over the mountain sides, and through- 

 out the balsam forests that cover the higher peaks and ridges. On the 

 Black Mountains I killed three (at 5000 feet altitude) in dense spruces where 

 Winter Wrens, Golden-crested Kinglets, and other 'Canadian' species were 

 among the most numerous birds. Others were heard calling still higher 

 up, and my guide assured me that he had often seen them on the ver_v sum- 

 mit of Mitchell's High Peak (6688 feet). The specimens just mentioned 

 are large, light colored birds, in no appreciable way different from Massa- 

 chusetts examples. 



8. Meleagris gallopavo. Wild Turkey. — -Abundant everywhere, rang- 

 ing, according to the hunters, over the highest mountains, and breeding 

 quite as numerously throughout the black growth above 5000 feet as in the 

 hardwood forests below. 



9. Zenaidura Tnacroura. Carolina Dove.— The Turtle Dove was 

 occasionally seen near Asheville, and also at Franklin, but not elsewhere. 

 The Wild Pigeon (^Ectopistes migratorius) is said to occm- in autumn in 

 large numbers, especially when beech mast is abundant. 



10. Cathartes aura. Turkey Buzzard. — Although less numerous 

 than in the coast districts of the South, the Buzzard is common and uni- 

 versally distributed throughout these mountains, where it is quite indifferent 

 to elevation. It is said to breed in crevices in the higher, more inaccessible 

 cliffs. 



11. Falco peregrinus anatum. Duck Hawk. — Nearly every suitable 

 cliff on the higher mountains was occupied by a pair of these noisy Fal- 

 cons. The mountaineers say that the same birds breed in the same places 

 many years in succession. They also believe that these unfortunate 

 Hawks regularly ' go blind ' in August, and as a natural consequence be- 

 come very thin and even die of starvation. 



12. Buteo pennsylvanicus. Broad-winged Hawk. — Three specimens 

 noted, a pair near Webster, and a single bird at about 6000 feet on the Black 

 Mountains. 



(Note. — The general scarcity — one may almost say absence — of Hawks 

 in this region during the breeding season is simply unaccountable. Small 

 birds and niammais, lizards, snakes, and other animals upon which the 

 various species subsist are everywhere numerous, the country is wild 

 and heavily-forested and, in short, all the necessary conditions of environ- 

 ment seem to be fulfilled.) 



13. Aquila chrysaetos. Golden Eagle. — -These fine Eagles were 

 frequently seen, usually in pairs, circling thousands of feet above the 

 earth. They are said to breed on inaccesible cliffs and ledges of the higher 

 mountains, \vhence they often descend into the valleys to prey on voung 

 lambs, geese, etc. The Bald Eagle is reported to occur in winter. 



14. Syrnium nebulosum. Barred Owl. — On the Black Mountains, 

 at an elevation of about 5000 feet, I picked up a feather which unquestion- 

 ably came from a Barred Owl, but whether its original owner belonged to 

 the alleni stripe or to typical iiebitlosnw I am of course unable to decide 

 on such fra2:mentar\- evidence. 



