12 Allison, Spring Birds of Tishomingo Co., Miss. [tan* 



LJan. 



NOTES ON THE SPRING BIRDS OF TISHOMINGO 

 COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI. 



BY ANDREW ALLISON. 



In the spring of 1904, a month's investigation of ornithological 

 and botanical conditions in the valley of the Tennessee River, 

 where it borders Mississippi, furnished me with some interesting 

 material, upon which I base the remarks that follow. 



Tishomingo County occupies the northeastern corner of Missis- 

 sippi, adjoining Tennessee on the north, and Alabama on the east; 

 the Tennessee River runs northwestward across the northeast 

 corner, constituting the State line, and relieving the otherwise 

 rectilinear character of the county boundaries. The valley of 

 this river is very narrow on the Mississippi side, and the interrupted 

 chain of hills rises again within a few hundred yards of the abrupt 

 bank. These hills are the foot-hills of the Alleghanies; entering 

 the State at this point, they extend southwestward, reaching their 

 maximum elevation of 800 feet in Pontotoc County, and terminat- 

 ing in the extreme southwest, in Wilkinson County. 1 



This county is a part of the Yellow Loam Region, which includes 

 about one third of the State ; 2 but, except in the narrow flood-plain 

 of the Tennessee River, and the broader ones of certain important 

 creeks, the soil layer is thin, and easily exhausted. Much grave' 

 is present, and renders much of the land practically unfit for agri- 

 culture. The deep soil of the creek and river bottoms is a brown 

 alluvial, of excellent fertility; and the natural growth of these 

 bottoms, subject to frequent inundation, is rich and varied. But 

 the points of geological interest are to be gathered from the hills; 

 and turning to these again, we find them similar to those of north- 

 ern Alabama, in that they are in large part underlaid by limestones 

 of the drift formation. This limestone bed is so thick that in many 

 cases the hills may be said to be made of it. In my notes I find 

 this record: 



1 J. R. Preston, Frye's Geography, Mississippi Edition. 



2 For some of these remarks on the geology of the region I am indebted to Dr. 

 Hilgard's report on the ' Geology and Agriculture of Mississippi.' 



