V ° 1 'l909'^ I l Howell, Summer Birds of Northern Georgia. 129 



NOTES ON THE SUMMER BIRDS OF NORTHERN 

 GEORGIA. 



BY ARTHUR H. HOWELL. 



The literature of Georgia ornithology is not extensive. The 

 only complete list of the birds of the State is a nominal list of 269 

 species, published in a German magazine in 1855 by Alexander 

 Gerhardt on the authority of one White. 1 In this paper, the author 

 gives interesting and valuable notes on the life histories of 43 species, 

 drawn from his personal observations during a residence of several 

 years in northern Georgia. These notes furnish, in the case of 

 several birds, the only published records of the breeding of the 

 species in the State. 2 Only two local lists from Georgia, both of 

 which are very incomplete, have thus far appeared. 3 Scattering 

 notes relating to Georgia birds are likewise few in number and 

 most of them refer to the southern part or to the region close to 

 Atlanta. With the exception of Gerhardt's paper, practically 

 nothing concerning the northern part of the State has been pub- 

 lished, and while many northern-breeding birds have been supposed 

 to inhabit the mountains, which are continuous with the ranges in 

 North Carolina, definite knowledge as to the species summering 

 there and the southern limits of their distribution has been lacking. 



The field work of the Biological Survey during the summer of 

 1908 included an examination of the fauna and flora of the Southern 

 States to determine the boundaries of the life zones. In connection 

 with this investigation I visited northern Georgia in July and spent 

 about three weeks collecting and studying the birds, mammals, 

 and plants of the higher mountains. Three localities were visited, 

 as follows: Tate, Pickens County, and Grassy Mountain (3290 

 feet), about six miles northeast of Tate, July 4—6; Ellijay, Gilmer 



1 Naumannia, V, 1855, pp. 382-384. 



2 This paper appeared in three installments, as follows: Naumannia, V, 1855, pp. 

 380-397, 458-469; VI, 1856, pp. 1-18. 



3 'Birds of Kirkwood, De Kalb County, Georgia,' by Robert Windsor Smith, in 

 Wilson Bulletin, X, pp. 49-59, 1903, listing 126 species; 'Memoranda of a Collection 

 of Eggs from Georgia,' by H. B. Bailey, in Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, VIII, pp. 37-43, 

 1883, listing 104 species, which list would be extremely valuable if exact localities 

 had been given. 



