358 Rathbun, Birds of Crescent Lake, Wash. [q"^ 



avifauna is obtained, especially of the detailed distribution of the 

 species. 



At an elevation of 550 feet above sea level, Lake Crescent, or 

 Crescent Lake as it is sometimes called, is located in the north- 

 western part of the State of Washington in the Olympic Peninsula 

 at the very threshold of the Olympic Mountains. Its area is six 

 and eight-tenths square miles, it has an extreme length of about 

 ten miles with a varying width of from one half to one and a 

 quarter miles, excepting at its lower end where it expands to three 

 miles. The shore line is approximately twenty-five miles, but is 

 very irregular with many indentations. As the name implies, the 

 lake is of a somewhat crescent shape, the result of this peculiarity 

 being that while the northern or lower end is less than five miles 

 distant from the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the western or upper end 

 lies within the Olympic range, being surrounded by mountains 

 that constitute a part of this system. Its shores in general are 

 bold and rugged, and in places the mountains rise abruptly from 

 the water, which is clear and transparent as is usually the case in 

 mountain lakes. 



The beaches along the lake have been formed in the past by the 

 detritus from the mountains. They are very narrow and invaria- 

 bly coA-ered or overhung with a deciduous growth of shrubs or 

 trees of small size, which extend back only to the base of the moun- 

 tains. The latter are in turn clothed with a dense coniferous 

 growth extending clear to their summits. In places on the moun- 

 tain sides are seen the effects of former forest fires as evidenced 

 by the burned and dead timber, but these are quite limited, the 

 general aspect being an unbroken forest. These burned areas are 

 practically impenetrable, for over the confusion of fallen trees has 

 sprung a dense growth of young conifers interspersed in spots with 

 small deciduous trees, all this in turn being penetrated by the still 

 standing dead timber. 



At the northwestern extremity of the lake is its outlet, the Lyre 

 River, which following a valley flows in a meandering line some six 

 miles before discharging its waters into the strait. A marked 

 difference exists in the topographical aspect of the section about 

 this lower end as compared with the upper, as here the mountains 

 are of less elevation, being somewhat broken, and represent the 

 water shed between the lake and strait, and this particular section 



