THE EFFECT OF MAN 545 



of trees form a strong contrast with the uniformity of the agricultural 

 landscape. Orchards, vegetable and flower gardens, planted walks, 

 cemeteries, and parks recall the borders of forests and the savanna, 

 and are, like them, thickly inhabited. 



Parks are, in fact, the type of situation richest in bird life in the 

 temperate latitudes. In the years 1898-1903 the Walters record having 

 seen 114 species of birds in Lincoln Park, which lies along the shore 

 of Lake Michigan near the crowded region of Chicago. Even so, they 

 call particular attention to the fact that many birds which are common 

 in the country districts near by are rare in the park, prominent among 

 which are: the red-winged blackbird, bobolink, warbling vireo, prairie 

 horned lark, and tufted titmouse. 



Central Park in New York is recognized by authorities on bird 

 study as an ideal station for the study of bird migration and as being 

 the best place for insectivorous transients in the New York City region. 

 Warblers are particularly abundant in this "oasis in a vast desert of 

 city roofs." The great majority of the 186 species recorded from the 

 park have been seen in "The Ramble," an area of about two acres 

 remote from drives. With increasing use of this part of the park by 

 people, the number of nesting native birds has been cut from 18 species 

 in 1908 to 8 in 1923, and the number of overwintering species has been 

 reduced in the same time from 22 to zero. Almost every individual 

 of the native species now seen in the park is a migrant. 



In the whole of New York City region 56 species have decreased 

 or disappeared within the past century, and 17 of them have become 

 much reduced in the last 25 years. To offset this showing, some 36 

 native birds have noticeably increased in abundance within the same 

 time owing to the steadily increasing protection furnished them. 13 



Less than 150 years ago the region now occupied by the city of 

 Chicago and its suburbs, the fourth largest city in the world, was little 

 affected by man; even 100 years ago this held true. Within the past 

 century every habitat in this area has become definitely man-domi- 

 nated. Of the mammals formerly present, the following are now lack- 

 ing: Virginia deer, American elk, American bison, beaver, eastern 

 cougar, Canada lynx, bobcat, gray fox, timber wolf, otter, American 

 badger, martin, fisher, and black bear. However, 39 of the 53 species 

 of mammals known to have been in this area recently still remain 

 within 50 miles of the center of this vast assembly of men. The species 

 present include the opossum, mole, shrews, bats, racoon, weasels, mink, 

 skunk, badger, fox, woodchuck, spermophiles, squirrels, flying squir- 

 rel, pocket gopher, mice, the house rat, muskrat, and cottontail rabbit. 

 Some 15 of these are known to survive in parks and cemeteries within 



