Vol. XXII 

 1905 



Rhoads and Pennock, Birds of Delaware. I 95 



find almost all of the hilly section of the State. From this ele- 

 vated area, running southward and followed by the line of the 

 railroad, is a narrow, slightly elevated plateau, which forms the 

 watershed between the Delaware and Chesapeake basins. After 

 crossing the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal by railroad about 

 twelve miles from Wilmington, we find almost no elevation worthy 

 of the name of hill, and from Clayton south the entire State is 

 extremely level with numerous extensive, low, wet, undrained 

 areas. 



Floral. 



We have not found any hemlocks growing native in Delaware, 

 but a few are found along the Brandywine Creek, but a few miles 

 north of the Delaware State line, in Chester County, Pa. There 

 are yet remaining a few cypress trees along the borders of Indian 

 River Bay, and, until destroyed by fire a few years ago, a consid- 

 erable body of cypress was to be found in the Cypress Swamp, 

 indicated on older maps of Delaware as extending into Maryland. 

 The long-leaf or southern pine is found abundantly in Sussex 

 County, along the line of the railroad, but disappears at or near 

 Harrington, which place is at the head-waters of the Nanticoke 

 River. 



Faunal. 



The State as a whole is of course referable to the Carolinian 

 Fauna, but the bird-life of the southern portion contains several 

 species typical of the Lower Austral life zone as defined by Mer- 

 riam. 



A feature that may have considerable bearing on the occurrence 

 of certain species of birds found in Delaware and but rarely to 

 the north and east thereof, is perhaps to be explained by the 

 position of the State in reference to Delaware Bay and its broad 

 waters and open exposure to the Atlantic, presenting a barrier to 

 the passage of such species as may have already about reached 

 their northernmost limit of migration. As a case in point, the 

 Mockingbird is an extremely rare species through southern New 

 Jersey, while in suitable localities in Delaware it is to be found 



