Birds of Allegany Park 283 



those that live on the tree trunks and among the larger limbs, and 

 those that live in the tree-tops. N.o hard and fast rule may be made 

 for any species, however, for those birds feeding and nesting mainly 

 on the ground are often in the undergrowth or even the tree-tops, 

 while those of the tree-tops may descend to the undergrowth or 

 the ground frequently. (See plate 2j). 



In the forests of the Park are to be found some of the most 

 interesting, most beautiful and most musical of our birds. Such 

 species as the Ruffed Grouse, the Woodcock, and the great Pileated 

 Woodpecker are of interest to everyone. Among the strikingly 

 beautiful birds not only is the brilliant Scarlet Tanager of common 

 occurrence, but also such little woodland gems as the Black-throated 

 Blue, Black-throated Green, Magnolia and Blackburnian Warblers 

 are to be met with almost daily. 



The Tanager, various warblers, and the persistent P^ed-eyed 

 Vireo, whose song is the commonest bird note of the forest, are 

 not remarkable singers. But the soft sweet notes of the Blue- 

 headed Yireo, and the tinkling trills of the Winter Wren will long 

 he remembered by the lover of bird music. Few areas can boast 

 of the songs of four thrushes, the best of all American songsters ; 

 yet in the forests of the Park are three, while the Veery along the 

 stream border near the edge of the forest, makes the fourth. The 

 occasional Olive-backed Thrush is well worth listening to, although 

 its music is least enchanting of the four. In special localities Wood 

 Thrushes, with their wonderful flute notes, answer each other 

 through the forests. Most abundant and perhaps best of all are 

 the Hermit Thrushes, whose notes, as clear and sweet as the tones 

 of a bell, are frequent sounds in the depths of the forest, especially 

 in the morning and evening. He who wisely chooses early summer 

 to visit the Park can hardly fail to hear this bird at its best. 



Birds of the Forest Floor. The forest floor in the Allegany 

 Park is not only all that might be desired from the forester's stand- 

 point, with a deep, moist humus that results in wonderful repro- 

 duction of the trees, but to the lover of nature it is of great beauty 

 and interest also (plate 27 and figure 81). Here are many pic- 

 turesque, moss-covered logs, beautiful" beds of ferns, and tangled 

 masses of trailing vines and woodland plants with leaves of many 

 shapes and shades of green (figure 82). The lover of wild flowers, 

 if he knows the meaning of these many summer leaves, will long 

 to see the plants in full bloom in May and June. In July only the 

 Dalibarda, whose white flowers suggest the spring freshness of an 

 Anemone, blooms to give a hint of what must have been there a 

 month or two before. 



The plants of the forest floor differ somewhat in the two types 

 of forest, some species being found in both types while others are 

 confined to only one. Owing to the fact that in some species the 

 entire plant dies down before midsummer, and in others the lack 

 of flowers at that season makes identification uncertain, it is prob- 

 able that many species are omitted from the following list. 



The plants found in both types of forest, in order of abundance 



