OP ARTS AND SCIENCES. 49 



extent. The few species of birds found in it are those common 

 to both the upper Canadian and the Hudsonian zone. Doubt- 

 less the upper Canadian species readily spread into it from be- 

 low and true Hudsonian species, if not crowded out, would at 

 least find its area too limited for regular occupation. The fol- 

 lowing birds are found to occupy this area regularly, and doubt- 

 less breed in it : Canadian Spruce Grouse ( Canachites canaden- 

 sis canace), White-throated Sparrow {ZonoUdcJiia albicollis), 

 Slate-colored Junco {Junco hyemalis) , Myrtle Warbler {Dendroi- 

 cacoronata^, Black-poll Warbler {Dendroica striata), Hudson- 

 ian Chickadee {Parns hudsonicus), and Bicknell's Thrush {Hy- 

 locichla alicice bicknelli) . A few other species wander up to this 

 height more or less frequently, but probably do not breed above 

 the upper Canadian ; such are Canadian Ruffed Grouse {Bonasa 

 umbeliiis togata), White-winged Crossbill {Loxia leucoptei^a) , 

 Nashville Warbler {Helmintliophila riibricapilla) and Golden- 

 crowned Kinglet {Regulns satrapa^. 



Mr. Samuel H. Scudder, in his report on the Distribution of 

 Insects in New Hampshire (Hitchcock, '74), refers to this zone 

 under the name of ' ' sub- Alpine. ' ' He finds that certain insects 

 whose habits render them more or less local, are quite character- 

 istic of this division, and gives, as two species which seem pecu- 

 liar to this region in New Hampshire, a butterfly {Brenthis 

 niontinus) and a grasshopper {Podisma glacialis). 



Arctic-Alpine. This is the treeless, "barren ground " area, 

 limited in New Hampshire to the summits of certain of the 

 highest mountains. In general, it includes the peaks of the 

 Presidential range above the level of 5,000 feet, having thus a 

 vertical extent of about 1,000 feet to the top of Mt. Washington 

 ;6,29i feet). Much of it is a region of boulder-strewn slopes, 

 though the more level parts, or " lawns," support a matted turf 

 of wiry sedges, together with a number of alpine flowering 

 plants. Though a small area, comparatively speaking, it is, 

 nevertheless, doubly interesting because of its peculiar charac- 

 ter and the rigorous conditions of environment which it affords. 

 From the observations made at the summit station on Mt. 

 Washington by officials of the U. S. Weather Bureau, a great 



