172 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 15-No. 11 



the Redstart, now tilled witli young, and num- 

 erous examples of insect lite made life pleas- 

 iiral)le and miserable. 



Our next point was Artist's Falls, where 

 Artist's Brook tumbles over a succession of 

 ledges down the mountain side; and all shaded 

 by the overhanging foliage which covers the 

 slope. 



Farther on, between Cranmore and Peaked 

 Mountains, we catch a glimpse, between the 

 trees, of dark clouds rai)idly gathering in tlie 

 west, and we turn our footsteps homeward, 

 down the j)recipitous slojies, pausing now and 

 then to watch the clouds casting their shadow 

 over the range on the opposite side of the 

 valley, and then rushing dowu the sides over 

 the rocks and bushes, and thiough the trees. 



What a change the pure, bracing mountain 

 air produces! Only a few days before, I threw 

 down my pen, sat back in my chair, and won- 

 dered if uiy back and fingers would ever come 

 straight again, and if my brains would ever 

 get unclogged, and the exertion of walking a 

 mile was so great that I took a horse-car to go 

 five blocks; and here I "as, four days later, 

 rushing down the rough side of a steep mount- 

 ain, risking the safety of life or limb at every 

 leap, as if I were only a boy of fourteen 

 years. 



In one of these plunges, as I was leaping 

 over a patch of low blueberry bushes, to keep 

 my feet from getting tangled, and thus falling 

 headlong down tlie bill, a little bird tluslu-d 

 from between my feet as 1 struck, and was 

 gone in an instant, but not so quickly that I 

 did not recognize the little .Tunco, or Snowbird, 

 whose lu)me I had never before discoveied. 

 I tliought no more of rain or shelter, but as 

 soon as I could check my downward course, I 

 retraced my steps, shouting for my comi)ani()n, 

 and he found me bending over tlie nest, which 

 was sunk in the ground among bluebeiiy 

 bushes and brakes. It was composed of line 

 grass and pine needles, lined with liair, and 

 contained five eggs. Entry in my note liook 

 says: Diameter, inside, '■)% inches; diameter, 

 outside, 5 inches: depth, 2 inches; very neat 

 and compact. 



On again down tlie mountain, and at the 

 foot we pause again to look at the nest of a 

 IJlack and Wiiite Warblei', which my friend 

 bad found some days before, and left fiir my 

 delectation. It was on tlu! side of a little 

 bank, the foot of which was washed by the 

 waters of tlu; biook, and crowned by a fence 

 whose gray aixl moss-grown boards contrasted 

 well with the green bank overgrown by ferns 



and bushes and shadowed by the dark, over- 

 hanging branches of a hemlock. 



The nest was nearly at the foot of a tree, 

 about four feet above the water, and hidden 

 by a branch of hemlock which grew out over 

 it. It was loosely constructed of pine needles 

 and dead leaves, and lined with fine shreds of 

 birch bark and horse hair; contained four eggs. 



The first thing that greeted my eyes on 

 awakening the next morning, was the fogs of 

 the night slowly rising from off the summits 

 of Moat Mountains; and I remembered that we 

 were to try Old Kearsarge that day; and I was 

 soon watching its cap emerging from the 

 clouds which the showers of the previous 

 night had caused. 



The sky clearing, we staited at 10 a.m. 

 across the fields for Sunset Hill, which is one 

 of the foot-hills of the mountain. The way 

 led along the course of the brook, through the 

 intervale, and strawberries and beautiful 

 fiowers and scenes beguiled our footsteps so 

 that it was nearly noon before the ascent was 

 really begun. 



The bridle path wound around trees and 

 rocks, with numerous openings, whence the 

 valley below could be seen, and niany were the 

 interruptions which turned us from our path. 

 The beautiful fiowers of the Llunea bdvealin 

 called our attention at one moment, and at tlie 

 next turn it was some bird which liopped out 

 of the bushes, and as suddenly llitted out of 

 sight. 



About one-fourth of the way up we heard 

 the sound of falling water, and our investiga- 

 tions were rewarded l)y a beautiful series of 

 cascades, swollen Ijy the showers of the night 

 before, formed by the fall of the brook which 

 runs between Kearsarge and Bartlett Moun- 

 tains. It seems strange that these cascades 

 are not better known, for tliey greatly surpass 

 many which are more noted. It is true that 

 they are not easily accessible, but they are 

 well worth the trouble of seeking out. 



On these banks, as we climbed over and 

 leaped across on the mossy and water-worn 

 rocks, \\e started the Redstart, the Chestnut- 

 sided Warbler, the Ked-eyed Vireo and the 

 Olive-backed Thrush, hiding among the bushes 

 and the fern-grown banks. 



We followed the course of the brook until 

 we found that it would carry us away fioni our 

 goal, when we turned again to'vard the bridle 

 path. 



We lunched on Prospect lA'dge, well nanu'd, 

 for here is afforded a fine i)rosi)ect of tliis 

 section of the Saco Vallev. 



