32 Bulletin 8 



Its extent is 13 miles from north to south and 10 miles from east to 

 west, and covers an area of about 120 square miles — one-fourth of which 

 is mountainous and the rest hilly valleys. 



The lay of the land takes the form of an irregularly shaped oblong 

 bowl, with a piece broken out on one side where the Walloomsac River 

 makes its escape into New York, a few rods from the northwest corner 

 of the town of Bennington. The eastern rim of the bowl is made by 

 the Green Mountain range, which extends in a large irregular semi- 

 circle from Glastenbury Mt. on the north, an altitude of 3,764 feet, to 

 the Dome on the south, an altitude of 2,754 feet. On the north, the 

 rim dips down from the Glastenbury Mt. across the height of land 

 separating the watershed of the Walloomsac on the south from that 

 of the Battenkill on the north, only to rise again to an altitude of 

 2,020 feet on West Mt. From the Dome on the southeast corner, the 

 rim dips down towards the west to Pownal Center and curving around 

 towards the north, rises to an altitude of 2,345 feet on the top of Mt. 

 Anthony, which forms part of the western rim. Between Mt. Anthony 

 and West Mt. the rim is broken out so that all the streams in this 

 bowl finally drain through this point of lowest altitude which is 500 

 feet above sea-level. 



The mountains are thickly covered with trees and scattered 

 through the lowlands are many groups of trees and bushes, so that 

 the whole region is very well wooded. There are no large stretches 

 of level meadow land, but the greater part of the valley is hilly, although 

 there are many swampy places overgrown with grasses, weeds, and 

 bushes which furnish ideal feeding and breeding places for the birds. 



Although there are no large rivers nor lakes within this region, 

 still it is very well supplied with water, for there are many springs 

 and small ponds, both natural and artificial, scattered throughout the 

 whole area. Many of these ponds are shallow with muddy, reedy bot- 

 toms and are favorite feeding places of the migrating water-birds. 



Lake Paran, a small semi-artificial pond of about 30 acres in extent, 

 lying just out of the village of N. Bennington, is a resort for the Ameri- 

 can Scoter in its fall migrations. 



Big Pond, lying in the town of Woodford at an elevation of 2,263 

 feet, is a favorite resting place for the migrating water birds, and upon 

 its waters have been shot the pied-billed grebe, loon, black duck, Ameri- 

 can scaup duck, and old squaw. The shores about this pond are fre- 



