1S84.I Rhkwstf.k on Birds, of Berkshire Cou/ify, Mass. O 



luit-sidcd \\'arl)Icr. Hlack-tliioatcd (irccii Warbler. iMoiiniin*^ 

 Warbler, Canada Fl}catclier, Ovcnbird, Kcdstart, Red-eyed 

 Vireo, Scarlet Tanager, Black vSnovvbird. Rose-breasted Grosbeak, 

 Pileated, Hairy, and Dovvnv Woodpeckers, and tbe Rufted (irouse. 

 Of these the Wood Thrnsh, Wilson's Thrush, Ovenbird, and 

 Red-eved Vireo were abundant ; the Robin, Chickadee. Black- 

 throated Green Warbler, Canacki Flycatcher, Scarlet I'anager. 

 Grosbeak, and (j rouse, common ; the remainder more or less rare. 



I saw only one specimen each of the Mourning' Warbler and 

 Snowbird. The former, a beautiful male, was shot near the 

 brook about a quarter of a mile above the entrance to the ravine. 

 It was singing among some bushes on the edge of an opening 

 grown up to wild raspberry vines — just such a place in fact as the 

 bird comraonl}^ chooses for a breeding ground in Northern New- 

 England, and I have little doubt that its mate was sitting on her 

 eggs somewhere near, although I tramped the brush through and 

 through yyithout flushing her. 



The Snowbird was also in this opening. Unlike the Warbler, 

 he was silent and appai^ently ill at ease. Probably he had wan- 

 dered down from the heights above for a brief visit only, perhaps 

 to hear the Wood Thrush sing, more likely for a bath in the 

 brook ; at all events, he was gone when I returned an hour 

 later. 



Pileated Woodpeckers were seen and heard at various places 

 in the ravine, but the}' are such rovers, and withal so noisy and 

 conspicuous, that I may have met the same birds several times. 

 On one occasion, while watching a Canada porcupine basking 

 in the sun on the branch of a mountain maple, every now and 

 then nibbling at its tender shoots in the leisurely wav peculiar to 

 his phlegmatic race, I heard the Flicker-like call of one of these 

 Woodpeckers on the mountain-side above. Hastily concealing my- 

 self I imitated his tapping by striking the palms of my hollowed 

 hands together, and almost immediately two of the superb birds 

 appeared and alighted against the trunk of a beech directh' over- 

 head. As they chased one another' upwards their scarlet crests 

 flashed like fire among the leaves. Reaching a decayed branch 

 they attacked it from opposite sides fairly bombarding me with 

 pieces of bark and chunks of rotten ^vood. When at length they 

 discovered me. thev were off" in an instant, each swinging down 

 in a long graceful curve as he disappeared among the trees. 



