iSS^.I BiJi^wsriCK 0)1 Ih'iuh of fier^sf/i'rc Coitii/y, Afa.ts. I I 



terislic liirds in this lower zone or ])v\i were Rollins. Ilerniil 

 Thrnshes, Black-and-Vellovv Warblers, and IJlue Jays, anioiif^^ 

 tiie spruces; Wood Thrushes (not observed bevf)nd the end of 

 the first mile from the base), Wilson's Thrushes, Red-eved Vireos, 

 and Maryland Vellovv-throats, with an occasional Redstart and 

 Canada Flycatcher, along the streams ; and Grass Finches and 

 Snowbirds o\'er the more open ground. In one ]5lace near the 

 edge of a field of oats, I also found a single pair of .Sayanna Spar- 

 rows. 



A little m;)re than half-way up, these pastures ended and the 

 path, after winding through a belt of heavy timber, tenanted only 

 by Red-eyed Vireos and Black-throated Green Warblers, ascended 

 'I steep ridge and entered a level stretch sparsely covered with old. 

 moss-grown birches. Here we found a few Snowbirds and a 

 White-throated Sparrow, which proved to be the lower outpost, 

 as it were, of the Canadian region which I was seeking. 



Climbing another ridge that for the last mile or two had shut 

 out all view of the summit, we paused on the tlireshold of a tract 

 differing widely in character from anything that we had hitherto 

 passed. It was a narrow plateau, extending in a semicircle 

 around the eastern side of the mountain, between the ridge just 

 mentioned and the final peak or summit, and for the most part 

 comparatively level, although more or less broken by knolls and 

 shallow ravines. This area, as well as ihe sides of the peak itself 

 for some distance above the base, had been cleared of the original 

 timber, but the groimd was fast becoming covered with a vigo- 

 rous second growth of maples {Acer spicahim) and birches 

 {Bet?/Ia hitea et papvracea). which in places had attained an 

 average height of at least fifteen feet, while in others they failed 

 to conceal the unsightly piles of cord-wood that marked the scene 

 of the wood-choppers' labors during the preceding winter. At 

 intervals a few scattered spruces of fair size and many tottering- 

 birch stubs had l-»een left standing, and the thiokets were 

 cumbered with decaying logs and heaps of se\-ered tree 

 tops. 



Before we had time to note these details, in fact at the very 

 moment of dra\ying rein on the outskirts of this tract, I became 

 aware that the goal of my hopes was reached. A shower had 

 just passed and for a brief space, as the sun, peeping through a 

 rent in the clouds, threw an intense lisrht on the sea of wet. 



