° 1912 J Harlow, Breeding Birds of Center County, Pa. 467 



southwest the country is roHing and mountainous with several 

 broad valleys. Most of the appended data was collected in the 

 Nittany Valley and along the Hundington County line. This 

 region is remarkable for its lack of large bodies of water, and this 

 feature accounts to a great extent for the few water birds which 

 nest here and also for the fact that the bird life is most abundant 

 in the valleys along the mountain streams. A detailed account 

 of several places which have been marked by certain types of bird 

 life follows so that the reader may better understand the various 

 allusions to these localities. 



Some two miles to the west of State College we find the " Barrens" 

 a peculiar tract of land with sandy soil and underground drainage. 

 The original stands of lumber were cut years ago and repeated fires 

 have kept down reproduction so that now we find a tract, miles 

 in extent with a dense second growth of scrub oak, white oak, 

 pitch pine and quaking aspen. Here and there we see scattered 

 patches of woodland but the region is featured by its dense under- 

 growth and lack of large timber. 



About one mile to the northeast of State College, Thompson's 

 spring gives rise to a creek, locally known as Sand Run. Just 

 below Center Furnace this creek is bordered on the southeast by a 

 marsh, several acres in extent. A luxuriant growth of marsh 

 grasses, marsh marigold and reeds, along with a few bushes and 

 cat-tails, make the location a paradise for swamp-loving birds. 

 The water varies from one to twenty-four inches in depth with an 

 average of perhaps four inches. 



Between the first and second ridges of the Seven Mountains, lies 

 the narrow first valley with its streams bordered by masses of 

 rhododendrons and a few scattering hemlocks,, mute witnesses 

 of the greed of the lumberman. Farther up on the ridges we find 

 groves of pitch pine and Table Mountain pine, chestnut oak and 

 red oak. 



Farther back in the mountains between the third and fourth 

 ridges lies the section known as Bear Meadows with an altitude 

 of 2200 feet. Here pitcher-plants, sundews and cranberries grow 

 in profusion while the black spruce and balsam recall at once the 

 northern bogs. The undergrowth consists of an almost impene- 

 trable jungle of rhododendron, and here yet linger the bear, the 

 deer, and the porcupine, secure in their mountain retreat. 



