!! 
1883.] Brewster on BicknelVs Thrush in New England. 1 3 
ij 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 
|j for birds. 
On the very summit — or at least less than a hundred feet below 
it — Snowbirds (Junco hiemalis') were twittering among the 
I 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 ( Betula glandulosa ) and 
blueberry bushes ( Vaccinium ccespitosum ) 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 
1 mile above the Half-way House, or nearly four miles, by the 
j carriage-road, from the summit, and at an elevation of (approx- 
1 imately) 4000 feet, we came to a tract of firs (Adzes balsamifera ) 
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 
I 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 ( Trientalis americana ) 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 americana , Betula papyra- 
cea (four or five feet high) , Amelaizchier canadensis oligocarpa 
(three or four feet in height), Ledum latifolium , Cornus cazta- 
