8 Brewster 07i Birdi of Berkskire County, Mass. [January 



in by towei'ing mountains, the main valley diftered little in gen- 

 eral appearance from the low country to the westward. Its fertile 

 acres were similarly devoted to corn fields, mowing lands, or- 

 chards, and pastures, which offered nothing more interesting than 

 Robins, Yellow Warblers, Field Sparrows, Grass Finches, Song 

 Sparrows, Bobolinks, Orioles, Kingbirds, etc. Even the moun- 

 tain sides, as far up as I explored them (to an elevation of about 

 two or three hundred feet above the valley), seemed to harbor in 

 their hard-wood forests, only such familiar woodland birds as 

 the Ovenbird, Red-eyed Vireo, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted 

 Grosbeak, and Wood Fewee. This was disappointing, and I be- 

 o-an to fear that I should find nothing of importance short of the 

 summits of the mountains, when by chance I wandered into a 

 ravine that extended back for a mile or more between two outly- 

 ing spurs of Graylock. 



Like most mountain glens this had a sparkling brook that 

 brawled noisily over pebbly shallows, plunged impetuously down 

 ragged ledges, svk^ept silently between vertical rocky walls fringed 

 with drooping ferns, and anon settled for a brief rest in pools 

 where trout lurked in the shadows and water spiders dimpled the 

 otherwise unruffled surface. The mountain sides rose steeply on 

 either hand, in places narrowing the bed of the ravine to a width 

 of only a few rods, in others retreating far enough to leave level 

 stretches several hundred yards in extent. The ground every- 

 where was densely, often heavily, timbered with beeches, red and 

 rock maples, paper and yellow birches, basswoods. etc., with a 

 sprinkling of black spruces and an undergrowth, especially about 

 the openings, of mountain maple {Acer spicatum) ^ striped maples 

 (y4. pennsylvanictim) , and hobble-bushes ( Viburnum lantan- 

 oides) ; while a few scant beds of ground hemlock ( Taxus baccata 

 canadensis) clung to the steeper slopes. Long after the morning 

 sun had flooded the valley outside, this solitary glen lay in chill 

 shadow, and even at noontide it was invariably damp and cool, 

 especially under the trees. These conditions, aside from those of 

 elevation, flora, etc., doubtless attracted certain birds and repelled 

 others ; at all events the place held a rather curious mixture of 

 bird-life. 



The number of species was apparently small, for in the course 

 of four visits I detected only eighteen; viz., the Robin, 

 Wood Thrush, Wilson's Thrush, Black-capped Chickadee, Chest- 



