— 8— 



ravines, well covered with bushy vegetation, harboring many 

 excellent "finds" attractive to the oologist. Continuing along 

 the road to the southward, the collector finds a beautiful 

 pond encircled by unbroken forest. This sheet of water is 

 known as Estey's Pond, and along its wooded borders the birds 

 sing and thrive. In the darkened woodlands western 

 horned owls pass the day in meditative silence; over the open 

 area tree swallows ply to and fro in quest of hovering insects. 

 Golden-shafted flickers tenant the decayed boles of the over- 

 flowed margins; indeed, on every hand are seen signs of avian 

 activity, and the air is vibrant with wildwood melody. 



It is scarcely necessary to add that the abundance of food 

 throughout the region under consideration is a predominating 

 factor in the presence and distribution of the recorded bird- 

 life. The damp and decaying vegetation of the swampy area 

 at the mouth of the river teems with such insect food as is most 

 attractive to the warblers and vireos. The cleared and burnt 

 patches abound with wild gooseberries, haws, elder, strawberries, 

 raspberries, and the foods which are favorites of the chiefly 

 frugivorous species. The lake shore and the hillsides are clad 

 with wild honeysuckle, or snowberry, among which dart hum- 

 mingbirds on whirring wings; and in the waste spots of bushy 

 areas stand the giant hyssop and other seed-producing plants, 

 a ready larder for the pine siskins, sparrows, and related 

 Fringilline species. In few localities has Mother Nature pro- 

 vided so liberally for her wildwood children, and the region 

 is accordingly populous both in number of species and in in- 

 dividuals. 



