iSSj.l Brewster on Birda of Bcrks/n're County. Mass. I 2 



and conspicuous. But there was in addition a sprinkling of such 

 ubic|uit()us birds as the Robin, Bluebird, Mar\land Yellow- 

 throat. Scarlet Tanager, and Catbird. I also came upon a pair 

 of Towhee Jiuntings which, ratlier curiouslw were the only indi- 

 viduals met with in Berkshire Countw Thev were feeding 

 young already on wing in a thicket where their nearest neighbors 

 were Winter Wrens and Mourning Warblers. 



At the point where the bridle path left this opening it plunged 

 directly into a forest made up of spruces {Abies nigi-a) and bal- 

 sams {A. bahajnifera)^ with a mixture of yellow birches and a 

 scant undergrowth of mountain ash, mountain maple, and hobble- 

 bush. These woods continued without a break to the summit, a 

 distance of nearly a mile as the path ran. They were very beau- 

 tiful — the trees of fairly large size and evident antiquity, although 

 more or less dwarfed and spi^eading. The ground beneath was 

 firm, moderately open, and so free from rocks or holes that we 

 often left the trail and rode at will between the trees. I had expect- 

 ed to find many birds here, but they proved far from numerous. 

 I detected only two species not seen elsewhere, viz., the Red- 

 bellied Nuthatch and Blackburnian Warbler. The former was not 

 uncommon, but I saw only one Blackburnian — a beautiful male in 

 full song among the branches of a spruce which overhung the 

 path. I also discovered a neatly finished but empty nest of the 

 Olive-backed Thrush. It was built in the top of a fallen fir. and 

 so nicely concealed that I should have passed without noticing it 

 had not the bird fluttered oft*, as I brushed the end of the branch- 

 es. These Thrushes were more numerous here than in the open- 

 ing below, and their music was often the only sound that broke 

 the silence. I scrutinized them closely, hoping to find a stray 

 bicknelli among them, but all that I saw or heard were unmis- 

 takably common Olive-backs. 



The summit of Graylock was cleared years ago to aftbrd a bet- 

 ter view, but the surrounding woods have thrown out an advance 

 guard of saplings which are fast recovering the lost ground. There 

 is still a small open space, however, covered with wild grasses, 

 among which I noticed buttercups but no sub-Alpine flowers. 

 About this opening I found — in addition to the generally-distrib- 

 uted Olive-backs, Canada Flycatchers, and Snowbirds — a few 

 Black-throated Gi'een Warblers, a single Ovenbird ( Sii/rus 

 auricapilhis)^ a Purple Finch, and a little party of Chimney 



