130 On the Birds of Ritchie County. 



bracing as they do the joint labors of Messrs. K. Deane and 

 Ernest Ingersoll, in addition to those of the author, be- 

 tween the dates of April 25th and May 9, 1874, must, I 

 think, give a large proportion of the birds which occur at 

 that season, and as many little known species were found in 

 abundance and under very favorable conditions for observa- 

 tion, I have been induced to present a few notes on their 

 habits, etc., trusting that they may prove acceptable contri- 

 butions to science. The locality explored was the neighbor- 

 hood of the little village of Petroleum, a rude hamlet of 

 some hundred inhabitants, situated on Goose creek, a tribu- 

 tary of the Huse River. The characteristics of the country 

 are essentially like those of all the region lying in that lati- 

 tude, within the foot hills of the great Alleghanian range of 

 mountains ; wild rugged valleys walled in by steep ridges, 

 of a nearly uniform elevation of perhaps 500 feet, which, 

 in their turn, are here and there cleft by rocky ravines, 

 the beds of the mountain torrents. 



With the exception of the creek bottoms, where are a 

 few imperfectly cultivated clearings, the whole face of the 

 country is covered with a dense and apparently for the most 

 part primeval forest, abounding in deer, bears and other 

 large game. Consequent upon the small extent of open 

 cultivated country, is the scarcity, and in some cases total 

 absence of many species of birds, which might otherwise 

 be confidently expected to occur here, although a careful 

 examination at other seasons would undoubtedly increase 

 largely the present list. In this connection, a comparison 

 with Mr. Scott's "Partial list of the summer birds of Ka- 

 nawha County" (Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. 15, p. 

 219) would prove interesting, for as the locality which he 

 investigated lies but little more than fifty miles to the south, 

 and possesses the same general features, his catalogue may 

 be relied upon to furnish the data of several summer species 

 not detected at the time of our visit in the region about to 

 be considered. 



