"JoS Batchelder, jVor^^ Carolina Mountains in Winter. [July 



eries, but to the ornithologist it has remained until lately an 

 unknown land. 



Mr. William Brewster has the credit of being practically the 

 first in the field, and his hurried, but most successful, exploration 

 of the region last season has at length given us an accurate 

 knowledge of its summer fauna. Its bird life at otlier seasons 

 being still merely a subject for conjecture, I gladly seized an 

 opportunity last December of investigating to a slight extent its 

 winter fauna. 



In the last number of 'The Auk' Mr. Brewster has given such an 

 excellent description of the physical features of the country, and 

 of the general character of its vegetation, that it is quite unneces- 

 sary for me to say more on this subject. In winter, of course, 

 with the exception of the Coniferje, the rhododendrons, laurel, 

 and a few smaller shrubs, the woods are leafless. The weather 

 during my stay was with few exceptions all that could be wished, 

 cloudless skies and an equable temperature being the rule. It 

 was cold enough for tlie ground to freeze hard almost every night, 

 but the power of the sun's rays converted the surface into mud 

 again in the daytime. The only exceptions to this beautiful 

 weather were several cold blustering days with snow, a few 

 flakes floating in the air, or even a fall of a few inches upon the 

 ground. In almost every winter storm the higher mountains are 

 whitened with snow, while at the same time in the valleys it is 

 more likely to be raining. The mean temperature in December 

 at Asheville (elevation 2250 ft.) is stated to I'e 37° F. 



My first stay was at Asheville, and my observations here were 

 made chiefly between December 10 and 19 inclusive. Much of the 

 countrv about the town is under cultivation ; corn and tobacco 

 being the principal crops of the small farms which occupy tb.e 

 low ground along the rivers or lie nestled in the sheltered 

 'coves' between the hills. 



About these farms, and in the thickets that border them or 

 fringe the streamlets which take their rise in nearly every cove, 

 I was sure to find some birds. Prominent among them were the 

 Snowbirds (yjmico kyemalis) in straggling flocks of ten or 

 twenty. With them were often to be found Field Sparrows. 

 Grass Finches, and Song vSparrows, though in smaller numbers, 

 and occasionally two or three White-throated SjDarrows, Gold- 

 finches, or Bluebirds were to be seen in the company. One or 



