PULPWOOD Sl^ATISTICS INCLUDED 



723 



Sparrows are plastic birds 

 and respond readily to the 

 factors of their environment, 

 excess of light and aridity 

 tending to make them pale in 

 color, and excess of humid- 

 ity and shade making them 

 darker. Thus among such 

 widely distributed species as 

 the song and fox sparrows 

 that are found throughout 

 North America, we find a 

 remarkably pale race in the 

 hot, arid regions of the west, 

 while those of the Pacific 

 Coast are very dark. The 

 birds of Eastern North 

 America, on the other hand, 

 where conditions are not ex- 

 treme, are intermediate. 



Typical sparrows are 

 hardy birds. Many species 

 never migrate and others re- 

 tire southward only short 

 distances, remaining in cold 

 latitudes throughout the win- 

 ter. A few are highly mi- 

 gratory, the indigo bird and 

 blue grosbeak wintering in Central America, and the 

 rose-breasted grosbeak continuing as far as Colombia 

 or Ecuador. Among the familiar winter birds of North- 

 ern United States might be mentioned the tree sparrow, 



LIKE FATHER? OR MOTHER? 



When the male bird is brighter in color than the female the young resembles 

 the female. Here is a male rose-breasted grosbeak feeding its young. 



snow bunting, longsjjurs, 

 redpolls, pine and evening 

 grosbeaks, pine siskin, and 

 crossbills. These birds nest 

 in the far north and come 

 southward only far enough 

 10 find food. Some that re- 

 main throughout the year, or 

 migrate only short distances, 

 include the goldfinch, purple 

 finch, song sparrow, junco 

 and the ubiquitous house 

 sparrow. Others that are 

 more migratory, and spend 

 the winter in souther n 

 I'uited States, include white- 

 throated, white-crowned, 

 vesper, chipping, field and 

 fox sparrows, and towhee. 



All of these birds are 

 easily attracted to feeding 

 stations during the migra- 

 tion or during the winter, if 

 a plentiful supply of seeds is 

 afi^orded. The cracked grain 

 sold for small chicks, with 

 an admixture of sunfiower 

 seeds, is most satisfactory. 

 Feeding the birds in winter is a delightful and instructive 

 pastime and a real help to trees and gardens. Directions 

 for maintaining a feeding station at or near one's window 

 will he found in Americ.\n Fore.stry for December, 1915. 



PULPWOOD STATISTICS INCLUDED 



FIGURES showing the amount of wood used in the 

 United States for making pulp will, it is announced, 

 be obtained by the Forest Service in connection 

 with its 1916 census of the lumber industry. Because 

 of the increasing scarcity of the pulpwood in some parts 

 of the country, the need for accurate figures showing 

 the consumption of this class of material is realized by 

 manufacturers and foresters alike and it is expected that 

 such figures will be made a part of the yearly statistical 

 work of the Forest Service. The pulp manufacturers will 

 cooperate in the work, through their trade organization, 

 the Newsprint Manufacturers' Association. 



Detailed information in regard to the amount and cost 

 of different kinds of pulpwood consumed in the different 

 states is to be collected. Comparative figures showing the 

 total pulpwood consumption of the country for 1899, 1909, 

 1914, and 1916 are to be compiled. 



The data to be obtained will, it is stated, be of con- 

 siderable value to pulp manufacturers, as well as to the 

 Forest Service. Owing to the comparatively small mun- 

 ber of pulp mills in the United States, it is thought it 

 will be possible to issue a report on the work at an 

 early date. 



NEW YORK TO BUY FORESTS 



AT the recent election the people of New York State 

 voted to tax themselves $10,000,000 for the pur- 

 chase of forest preserves. The fact that this was 

 not done by act of legislature, but by a referendum, shows 

 how popular the idea of state forests has become with the 

 people at large. The forest preserves of New York are 

 not only of great economic importance for the preserva- 

 tion of the water supply and of local industries, but serve 

 as an immense park which is visited annually bv millions 

 of people. Of the total amount voted, $7,500,000 will be 

 available for further purchases in the Adirondacks and 

 Catskills, where the State owns already 1,814,550 acres of 

 forests and lakes, and $2,500,000 for the Highlands of 

 the Hudson Preserve. A private subscription of a like 

 sum had already been secured contingent on the passage 

 of this proposition of the referendum. There will, there- 

 fore, be available altogether $5,000,000 for the completion 

 of a great interstate park in the Highlands of the Hudson. 

 This splendid example set by a wealthy state will un- 

 doubtedly have a valuable influence on other eastern states. 

 The fourteen thousand acres which the Vermont Forestry 

 Department has acquired is a good start in the right direc- 

 tion, but it is only a drop in the bucket compared to the 

 3,000,000 acres of woodland in the State. 



