birds of new york 19 



Bird Communities 



After long continued consideration and sorting of the species of birds 

 that nest within the limits of New York State, the author is convinced 

 that the following communities might be recognized, although the obvious 

 difficulty of confining many species of birds to one of them is no more than 

 can be expected. 



Communities of the seashore and lake shore. Here we might place 

 all those species whose nesting site is confined to the immediate vicinity 

 of larger bodies of water. In this State there seems to be no sharp dis- 

 tinction between lake shore and seashore communities, so this difference 

 is not recognized. Even the Roseate tern and the Least tern undoubtedly 

 nested at one time on the shores of the Great Lakes and the Common 

 tern at the present time nests on the Canada-New York border among 

 the Thousand Islands. Those species which breed on the sandy or gravelly 

 beach are the Common tern, Roseate tern, Least tern and Piping plover. 

 The species which nest on rocks or waste near the shore are the Loon and 

 Herring gull. Here might also be included those that nest on trees in 

 the immediate vicinity of the seashore such as the Osprey, Bald eagle, 

 Golden eye, and also the Fish crow, which has not been found far from 

 the sea or the brackish waters of the Hudson. 



Community of the salt marsh. A few species are not known to nest 

 except in the salt marshes of the coast. These are the Laughing gull, 

 Clapper rail, Sharp-tailed sparrow and Seaside sparrow. 



Communities of the fresh water marshes. The marshland com- 

 munity is one of the most sharply defined on account of the peculiar edaphic 

 and humid conditions found within the coverts of the cat-tail, reed 

 and sedge formations. Herein are included, in the wider and deeper 

 portions of the marsh where the water is continually standing, such species 

 as the Pied-billed grebe, Black tern, Least bittern, Sora, Florida gallinule, 

 Coot, Red-winged blackbird, Long-billed marsh wren. Where the ground 

 is still moist and water may be standing, but nearer the solid ground than 



