58 Allen, Summer Birds of Southern Vermont. Vi^n 



their lower ridges. The brook from the reservoir pond in Plymouth 

 enters the river near the post-office, and its valley forms with the 

 river-valley a kind of Y. The intervales are too restricted to admit 

 of extensive grass-fields, so that the birds of the open are not very 

 numerous and of so common a bird as the Vesper Sparrow I found 

 but a single individual. Woods birds, on the other hand, are 

 abundant enough. 



The western wall of the valley is formed by the main range of 

 the Green Mountains. Killington Peak (4241 feet), the highest 

 mountain in southern Vermont, is due west of the village, the 

 summit at a distance of about three miles in an air line and about 

 five miles by trail. Pico Peak (3967 feet) is a little farther north. 

 Several other peaks in the neighborhood ascend beyond 3500 feet. 

 On the other side of the Ottaquechee River is the long ridge of 

 East Mountain, which rises to the height of 2812 feet. 



In the valley and well up the mountainsides hardwood trees and 

 mixed growth predominate, except in overgrown pastures, where 

 young spruces and firs are the principal trees. On the upper 

 slopes red spruce forms the bulk of the forest, and the summits of 

 Killington and Pico Peaks are covered with a scrub growth of 

 balsam fir, except that the very top of Killington is bare ledge. The 

 deciduous woods are composed chiefly of sugar maple, yellow birch, 

 beech, and paper birch. Scattered trees of red oak are not uncom- 

 mon on the lower levels. Hemlock is common, but I saw no pine 

 of any kind in the immediate neighborhood. 



The Ottaquechee River is swift and shallow here for the most 

 part, though there are several natural deadwaters in the town of 

 Sherburne, one of which, at least, has marshy banks which harbor 

 a few Swamp Sparrows as well as Red-winged Blackbirds and 

 Savanna Sparrows. 



The faunal relations of New England birds are so well understood 

 that no general remarks as to the local distribution of the species 

 are necessary here, and I proceed at once to the list. (It should 

 be noted that this list cannot pretend to completeness even within 

 its narrow limits. There are certainly omissions among the larger 

 and more seclusive birds such as hawks and owls, but it probably 

 gives a sufficient indication of the general character of the summer 

 ornis of this region.) 



