1 6 Batchelder on Clarke's Crow. [January 



attract a large proportion of the migratory Canadian species. 

 Some of the neighboring monntains, to continue the simile, 

 doubtless also form Canadian islands, and there are probably 

 many reefs — mountains of low elevation — where the area above 

 high-water mark is sufficient to support only a few northern 

 forms. It may be fairly c{uestioned, however, if elevation here, 

 as well as in other mountainous regions, is the sole factor gov- 

 erning the distribution of birds. That it is the chief one cannot 

 be disputed, but certain birds are apparently influenced very 

 strongly in their choice of breeding grounds by the presence 

 or absence of certain trees or shrubs in which they are accus- 

 tomed to build their nests. The flora of any given area is of 

 course largely determined by altitude, but it may be materially 

 affected, and even radically changed, by man's interference. For 

 instance, in the region under discussion, spruces and firs are said 

 never to reappear after the first cutting, the second-growth being 

 invariably of hard woods ; and, if tradition can be believed, several 

 of the mountains near Graylock, which are now covered with 

 beech, maple, birch, etc., originally had extensive tracts of "black 

 growth," i.e., spruce and fir. Surelv such changes must mate- 

 rially affect bird-life. 



Graylock is in a state of transition. It still has large areas of 

 spruces, but they are rapidly disappearing, and the character of 

 the mountain is likely to undergo a great change within the next 

 twenty-five j^ears. It will be interesting to watch if the birds 

 change also. 



Of the fauna of the neighboring mountains I cannot speak posi- 

 tively, not having explored them to their summits ; but I shall 

 be surprised if they prove to harbor anything like the number of 

 northern species which occur on Graylock. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE FIRST PLUMAGE OF 

 CLARKE'S CROW. 



BY CHARLES F. BATCHELDER. 



In Colorado last spring, at a station known as McGee's, on the 

 Denver and South Park R.R., in Chaffee County, I had the good 



