I Co Rives ofi Birds of Salt Pond Moutitatn, Virginia. [April 



On the occasion of my visit the mountain was reached by a 

 drive of twenty-four miles from Christiansburg, on the Norfolk 

 and Western Railway, passing through Blacksburg, the seat of 

 the Virginia Agricultin\al and Mechanical College, situated in a 

 beautiful and fertile valley, and over the Brush and Gap Moun- 

 tains. The Salt Pond Mountain is visible for a great distance, 

 but its massive proportions are particularly well seen from the 

 northern slopes of the Gap Mountain, above the village of New- 

 port. It presents, like many of the Virginian ranges, a long 

 level top, which is slightly interrupted by the rounded eminence 

 of Bald Knob, its highest peak, and at its western end falls away 

 rather abruptly towards the valley of the New River. After 

 leaving Newport and fording Sinking Creek, the ascent began. 

 Proceeding upwards, a number of Bewick's Wrens {T/iryotho- 

 nts bexvickii) ^ with young already quite well grown, were 

 found along the fences and among piles of brush in one of the 

 clearings. Their movements were restless and active, like those 

 of other Wrens, and their long tails were especially conspicuous. 

 During the rest of the ascent but few if any birds were no- 

 ticed. The road, which was very rough in places, at a point 

 about two-thirds up the mountain turns completely round its 

 western shoulder, here aftbrding a magnificent and extensive 

 view of distant ranges to the south and west, and of the New 

 River Valley, and is carried along the side of a deep ravine, 

 lying between this portion of the mountain and one of its out- 

 lying spurs. 



Just beyond the summit of the ridge which terminates this 

 valley, lies the lake, fringed in the greater part of its extent with 

 rhododendrons {Rhododejidro?i niaxiynuiii) ^ which when in 

 flower in July must present a beautiful sight, and form an ex- 

 quisite setting for this mountain gem. As it now exists, the lake 

 is of comparatively recent origin, and is thought to have been 

 formed by the accidental stoppage of some of the outlets of the 

 stream, or small pond, which existed in this spot in the last 

 century. Its greatest depth, according to Professor William B. 

 Rogers, is from 56 to 60 feet. It is three-quarters of a mile long 

 by half a mile wide, and at its northern end discharges its waters 

 by a brook, which after a short course enters Little Stony Creek, 

 a beautiful and picturesque stream, abounding in trout, which, in 

 the course of its rapid descent to the New River, forms a fine 



