1883.] Brewster on BickfielVs Thrush tti Netv Engla7id. I T^ 



never quite banished from these elevated regions, even during 

 mid-summer. But time was precious, and barely pausing to 

 admire the grandeur of the scenery that surrounded us we began 

 the descent, my companions botanizing, while I watched closely 

 for birds. 



On the very summit — or at least less than a hundred feet belov\^ 

 it — Snowbirds (^yunco hieinalts) were twittering among the 

 rocks, but no other species were observed until near the end of 

 the third mile, when the clear notes of a White-throated Sparrow 

 rose from a thicket of dwarf birches {Bettda glaitdulosa) and 

 blueberry bushes ( Vaccinium ccespiioszim) by the roadside. A 

 few hundred yards further down we heard a Nashville Warbler 

 singing in a sheltered hollow among some black spruces {Abies 

 nigra) ^ the tallest of which were barely four feet high. His pres- 

 ence in such a spot was a forcible illustration of the law that 

 Nature fills all her waste places, for surely he might have found 

 a more congenial home among his kindred in the forests below. 



Down to this point we had seen no trace of Thrushes of any, 

 kind, and indeed the evergreens were nowhere numerous or high 

 enough to afford them suitable shelter. But about a third of a 

 mile above the Half-way House, or nearly four miles, by the 

 carriage-road, from the summit, and at an elevation of (approx- 

 imately) 4000 feet, we came to a tract of firs (Abies balsamife7'd) 

 and spruces (A. nigra) that seemed to promise better results. 

 This thicket covered three or four acres of a comparatively level 

 portion of the mountain, and extended down the face of an al- 

 most sheer precipice to the bed of West Branch in the "Gulf of 

 Mexico" below. Over the level area the trees attained a height 

 of about ten feet. They, averaged perhaps four inches in diam- 

 eter at their bases and their tops were matted and spreading. The 

 ground beneath was moderately open, entirely free from under- 

 growth, and deeply carpeted with a yellowish-olive moss over 

 which were thickly sprinkled the clover-like leaves of the wood 

 sorrel ( Oxalis acetosella) and, more sparingly, graceful star 

 flowers ( Triejttalis ainericana) and beautiful Clintonias ( Clin- 

 tonia borealis)^ the latter still bearing their greenish-yellow 

 blossoms. In the immediate vicinity, but not actually under the 

 shade of the trees, we found Pyrus americaiza^ Bettda papyra- 

 cea (four or five feet high) , A^nelanchicr caitadensis oligocarpa 

 (three or four feet in height). Ledum latifolium^ Cornus cana- 



