iSqo.] Loomis. Summer Birds of Pickens County, S. C. Of 



But in spite of this drawback field-work was diligently pressed, 

 though I was compelled to put up at the house of a friend at the 

 foot of Mt. Pinnacle instead of camping out as I had intended. 

 The mules I had with me, however, enabled me to reach the 

 summits and other places more remote without great loss of time. 



The mountain region of South Carolina may be briefly defined 

 as a wedge-shaped territory, about one hundred and fourteen 

 miles in length and from eight to twenty-one miles in width, 

 stretching along the North Carolina boundary from the vicinity 

 of Henry's Knob and the King's Mountain chain on the east to 

 the Georgia line on the west, traversing the counties of York, 

 Spartanburgh, Greenville, Pickens, and Oconee. Within this 

 region there are two distinct districts ; an outer one characterized 

 by widely isolated elevations arising from a country essentially 

 similar in general aspect to the Piedmont section, and an inner 

 one, truly mountainous and properly a part of the Blue Ridge 

 system, extending in an irregular belt — nowhere, perhaps, ex- 

 ceeding a dozen miles in width — along the border from the State 

 of Georgia to the northwestern corner of Spartanburgh County. 



About Mt. Pinnacle the mountains assume the form of succes- 

 sive ranges, broken up by gaps into numerous peaks, and separated 

 from one another by narrow valleys. Mt. Pinnacle, proper, is 

 but a single point, with lateral spurs, in a chain lying between the 

 Oolenoy and the South Fork Saluda. Table Rock, several miles 

 away, is at the eastern terminus, the general trend of the range 

 being east and west. The sides, which are very steep, are broken 

 up into narrow ridges and hollows ; the numerous brooks flowing 

 from the latter rendering the region one exceptionally well watered. 

 The summits culminate in mere points and sharp roof-like 

 ridges — the apex of Mt. Pinnacle tapering to a surface of only 

 a few square rods in extent. As would naturally be inferred 

 from the name, Table Rock furnishes a partial exception to this 

 statement. Just below the highest portion, and at a spot where 

 a fine spring issues from the soil, there is a wooded area, com- 

 paratively level, of upwards of twenty-five acres. On the slopes, 

 near the~"crest of the range, a few acres of fairly even ground are 

 a rarity. Such places, forming little ' benches ' and coves, are 

 always compensated for by sudden drop-ofts, crags and cliffs 

 abounding. The most noteworthy precipice of the locality, as 

 well as of the whole mountain region, is at Table Rock, where 



