FAUNAL AREAS n 



above sea level. The central and western portions of the State 

 may be described as a much dissected plateau, with deep side- 

 valleys and occasional projecting peaks, or " monadnocks." The 

 deep Connecticut Valley, crossing this plateau, divides it into 

 two regions of high, hilly land. The upland region to the east 

 of the Connecticut river may be regarded as the southern exten- 

 sion of the White Mountains. Its highest point is Mt. Wachu- 

 sett (2,018 feet). To the west of the Connecticut are several 

 ranges of north and south trending hills, which are a continuation 

 of the Green Mountain system of Vermont. Of these, the Hoosac 

 Range and its southern prolongation, form a divide between the 

 valley of the Connecticut on the east and the Hoosac and the 

 Housatonic Rivers on the west. On the western border of the 

 State, runs the Taconic Range, among whose highest peaks are 

 Berlin Mt. (2804 feet), Mt. Everett (2624 feet), Potter Mt. (2410 

 feet) and Perry's Peak (2077 feet). In the northern part of 

 Berkshire County, between the Taconics and the Hoosacs, is the 

 great mass of Saddle Mountain, the highest land in the State, 

 whose loftiest peak, Mt. Greylock, rises 3505 feet above the level 

 of the sea. 



Of north and south-trending rivers, so important as highways of 

 migration, and of intrusion from the south, the largest is the Con- 

 necticut, which traverses the west-central part of the State. Its 

 valley is broad, except where it crosses the Holyoke Range of 

 hills. Its main side streams are the Deerfield and Westfield Riv- 

 ers, which flow in from the west, and the Chicopee and Miller's 

 Rivers which enter from the east. The drainage basin of the 

 Connecticut and its tributaries in this State is thus about sixty 

 miles broad and includes Franklin and Hampshire Counties, and 

 parts of Hampden, Worcester and Berkshire Counties. The Con- 

 necticut River in its passage through the State falls about 130 

 feet. Other north and south running rivers are the Housatonic 

 and Farmington Rivers in southern Berkshire County, the Black- 

 stone and French Rivers of southern Worcester County, and the 

 numerous smaller streams which flow south into the bays of Bris- 

 tol County. In eastern Massachusetts are a number of rivers 

 which flow eastward into the Atlantic. Chief among these is that 

 part of the Merrimac near the northeastern border, which, with 



