PREFACE. 



Cedar. We find in this district many of the fur-beariag animals, such as the 

 Sable, the Fisher, and the Beaver. Here too roam the Moose, the Wolverine, 

 and others now only found in high northern latitudes. It also forms the southern 

 limits of the migration of many arctic birds ; and we accordingly meet here with 

 the Canada Jay and Spruce Grouse, the Swan, the Raven and the Arctic Wood- 

 pecker. 



3. The Hudson Valley District, includes those counties watered by the River 

 Hudson and its tributaries. Its chief tributary, the Mohawk, after a course of 

 about one hundred and forty miles, enters the Hudson from the west, at the dis- 

 tance of one hundred and sixty miles from its entrance into the ocean. The 

 shape of this district is of coui'se modified by the length and direction of the 

 Mohawk river, and bears some resemblance to the letter 'j^ inverted. Smaller 

 than either of the two preceding, it is nevertheless of much zoological interest. 

 At its upper portion, it is connected with the Northern district, and contains many 

 animals in common with the States bordering on the eastern margin. Along its 

 western border, it becomes elevated into high ranges of mountains, called the 

 Kaaterskills, some of which attain an elevation of nearly four thousand feet, 

 containing deer, wolves, panthers and bears. By the valley of the Mohawk, it 

 is zoologically connected with the Western district; and this connection is be- 

 coming daily more obvious, by the great artificial water channels which refliect so 

 much honor on the zeal and enterprise of her citizens. Thus the Soft-shelled 

 Turtle and Rock Bass of Lake Erie is now found in the Hudson ; in the same 

 way that the Yellow Perch, the Muskallonge, and others peculiar to the great 

 lakes, have, by means of the Ohio canal, found their way into the Mississippi 

 through the Ohio. On the south it is connected with the Atlantic, and accord- 

 ingly we find it teeming with the inhabitants of the ocean. On the other hand, 

 the Hudson river appears to form a natural geographic limit to the extension of 

 some species, at least in any considerable numbers. Thus, the Opossum of the 

 South rarely, if ever, outsteps this boundary ; among reptiles, the Chain Snake 

 and Brown Swift, and the Buzzard and many other species among the birds. 

 From the north also this river appears to be a barrier to their progress south ; 

 but these will be more fully detailed in the course of the following pages. 



4. The Atlantic District comprises Long Island, with a medium breadth of ten 

 miles, extending in a northeasterly direction one hundred and fifty miles. Its in- 

 sular position influences its climate, and we accordingly find a great difference 



