March 3, 1893. J 



SCIENCE. 



121 



THE GENESEE RIVER. 



BY EBV. BBOWKELL EOGKRS, A.M., CONQUEST, N.Y. 



The Genesee River rises in Potter County, Pa., about seven 

 miles south of tlie State line. The average elevation of ihe highest 

 hills in this county Is not far from twenty five hundred feet. The 

 valley of the Genesee reaches southward between the basins of 

 the Susquehanna, on the east, and of the Chautauqua Allegheny, 

 on the west. The watershed between these three basins lies in 

 the townships of Allegheny and Ulysses. 



The river flows north-northwest into Allegheny County, New 

 York, to the town of Caneadea, where its direction changes to 

 north-northeast. 1 bis direction is held until the river reaches 

 Lake Ontario. The total fall is about twenty-two hundred feet. 

 Its entire length is not far from one hundred miles, but flowing 

 so nearly northward It cuts across all the formations of the New 

 Yolk system from the Catskills to the Medina sandstone, these 

 formations in this part of the State having a nearly uniform east 

 and west strike. Yet, notwithstanding, there are but two locali- 

 ties where these formations are generally exposed, viz., at Portage 

 and at Rochester. True, there are a few other places where the 

 rock is uncovered, as at Mapes, and at Belmont, Allegheny 

 County. New York, but these are only limited exposures, and do 

 not at all compare with the gorges at Portage and at Rochester. 

 It is this fact that makes the river such an interesting study ; for 

 these two gorges — the one at Portage about three miles in length, 

 and the one at Rochester abouc seveu —are post glacial; the re- 

 mainder of the course of the river being in a pre-glacial valley, 

 which is nearly filled with drift. This old valley was several 

 hundred feet deeper than at present, for the drift has been jiene- 

 trated at various places two, three, and even four hundred feet 

 before the bedrock was reached, while on the hills, either side of 

 the river, rock is struck a hundred feet or more above the present 

 level of the water. Indeed, many of the tributary creeks have 

 uncovered the native rook for some distance back from the river. 



During the glacial epoch this old valley was undoubtedly filled 

 with ice, for the terminal moraine forms the water-shed of Potter 

 County. During the retreat of the ice, halts were made in at 

 least three different places, allowing the accumulation of drift in 

 greater quantities than elsewhere, thus damming up the already 

 nearly-filled valley. 



The first of these dams is about eight miles north of the State 

 line, in the town of Willing. It was not so high, though, but, on 

 the furtlier retreat of the ice northward, the water easily found a 

 way over the obstruction. This was on the western end of the 

 dam, consequently this end has been almost entirely washed 

 away. There are remnants, however, on the side of the valley at 

 an elevation corresponding with the eastern end, which is left 

 almost entire The second great glacial dam is at Portage. Here 

 the drift formed so complete a barrier that the river was turned 

 out of its course. But, instead of turning back again and flow- 

 ing southward as the Allegheny River did, the Genesee was sim- 

 ply turned to the west, and re-entered its vallew below the dam. 

 In plunging over the precipice, back into the old channel, strata of 

 various degrees of hardness were exposed, the erosion of which 

 has resulted in the formation of the present canon, with its series 

 of three water- faUs. At the upper falls the walls of the gorge 

 are two hundred and fifty feet high. Here the river makes a 

 perpendicular fall of sixty feet; half a mile below, a perpendicu- 

 lar fall of one hundred and ten feet; and one and a half miles 

 farther down, a broken fall of eighty feet. The summit rock at 

 the lower falls being so soft, many changes have been produced in 

 the falls during the last eighty years. A little south of Rochester 

 the valley was again so completely filled as to turn the river out 

 of its course, and again it turned to the west, cutting the gorge 

 below the city, and north of the outcrop of the hard Niagara 

 limestone which forms the summit of the falls at the head of the 

 gorge. The depression occupied by Irondequoit Bay is the mouth 

 of the oli valley where it emerged from the Ontario plateau, 

 but the valley itself is traced far out into the lake, where it 

 opened into the old Erigan River. Had the Genesee valley not 

 been so completely filled up throughout its entire length, we un- 

 doubtedly would have had another lake similar to Seneca and 



Cayuga Lakes, all of these depressions being the results of pre- 

 glacial erosion. Sodus Bay and Fair Haven sustaining the same 

 relation to these depressions as Irondequoit does to the valley of 

 the Genesee. 



ODDITIES IN BIRD LIFE. 



BY C. W. SWALLOW, WILLSBUEGH, OREGON. 



The water ouzel (Cinctus mexicanus) is a very peculiar speci- 

 men of the feathereii race. Here we have a bird that, from its 

 habits, long. legs and teetering motion, may easily be mistaken 

 for a sand piper. It may almo.'^t be called duck-like, as it is so 

 much at home in the water, wading, swimming and diving with 

 ease, and even walking on the bottom under water in search of 

 food. From its shape and song it is somewhat wren-like; then 

 again, from its bill, its song and some other points, it is quite 

 thrush like. The bird is not especially noted for its musical 

 ability, yet when its sweet trills and warbles are heard in the 

 wild forest near some rooky stream, where song-birds are rare, 

 it is certainly charming to one that loves bird notes. 



The ouzel, or American dipper, as it is sometimes called, is a 

 western bird, found along the mountain streams between the 

 Rocky Mountains and the Pacific coast. The birds are bluish- 

 slate in color, darkest on top of head, back and wings. Tail 

 nearly black. The winter plumage and young have the featheis 

 of the throat and underparts and some of the wing feathers 

 white- tipped, giving some specimens the appearance of being 

 quite gray. These odd birds are about 7 inches long, with 11 

 inches extent of wings; wing, 3.5 inches; tail, 3 inches; tarsus, 

 11 inch; bill, .7 inch, horn-blue, yellowish at base; feet and 

 legs yellowish. The nest, placed by or under the upturned roots 

 of a tree or an overhanging rock or like situation, is a well- 

 made, dome-like structure of moss and rootlets, with the entrance 

 on one side. One nest that I examined had the entrance nearly 

 concealed by a swinging door of moss, evidently placed there 

 for that purpose. They are said to lay about five pure white 

 eggs. 



Perhaps one of the most odd of American birds, in habits as 

 well as appearance, is the evening grosbeak (Coccothrausies 

 vespcrtina). Although seemingly very widely distributed, it 

 being reported from the New England States to Oregon and from 

 Mexico to Canada, yet little if anything seems to be known of its 

 breeding range and habits. Last winter, 1891 and 1893, it was 

 quite a common bird in the vicinity of Portland, Oregon. I often 

 observed a flock of about a score which came to a certain locality 

 nearly every morning for a number of weeks to feed on the buds 

 of the vine maple. I noted them from December, 1891, until 

 April 25, 1892. This winter I have failed to see or hear one in 

 the same localities, although it has been a much moie severe 

 winter, and would naturally lead one to expect northern birds 

 to be more abundant than last winter, which was remarkably 

 mild. 



These birds utter a clear, bell-like chip, when flying, and oc- 

 casionally when on trees; it seems to be a call note. The largest 

 specimen I have measures as fol ows: Length, 8 inches; extent 

 of wings, 13.85; wing, 4.5; tail, 3; tarsus, .75; middle toe with 

 claw, .95; hind toe with claw, .65. They have a very heavy, 

 cone shaped, greenish-yellow beak about .8 inches long, by .6 

 broad, and .6f deep at base. With their odd colors of yellow, 

 black and white, these birds may remind one of the setting sun, 

 night and snow. They have a black crown patch nearly en- 

 closed by yellow on forehead and stripes over the eyes running 

 back to the nape; a few black feathers at base of bill; neck, 

 sides of head and throat brownish-olive, shading into yellow on 

 the rumpandunderparts; wings and tail black; secondary coverts 

 and some of the secondaries white, producing a large white 

 blotch on each wing; under tail coverts y. How ; feet and cUws 

 light brown; closed wings reaching to within about one-half inch 

 of end of tail. The winter habits of the bird seem to be very 

 much like the pine grosbeak (Pinicola eniideator), which is quite 

 common in the eastern States some winters. 



Another species that would be inc'uded as oddities is the chats 

 (Icteria), represented in the eastern States by {Icleria virens) 



