212 



DESTRUCTION AND REPRODUCTION OF FORESTS. 



often grow as luxuriantly as any of the na- 

 tive plants. 



Lastly. When the ground is permanently 

 occupied for agricultural purposes, the repro- 

 duction of the forest is of course entirely pre- 

 vented. In this case, the greater number of 

 the smaller plants found in the barrens disap- 

 pear. Some species of the Solidago and As- 

 ter, and the Canada thistle, as well as a few 

 smaller plants, remain in the fields, and some- 

 times become troublesome weeds. The most 

 injurious weeds found in the cultivated 

 ground, are not, however, native plants, but 

 foreign species, which have been introduced 

 with the cultivated grains and grasses ; the 

 ox-eyed daisy or white weed, and the crows- 

 foot or buttercup, are two of the most abun- 

 dant of these. 



When a district has undergone the last 

 change, when the sombre woods and the 

 shad,e-loving plants that grow beneath them, 

 have given place to open fields, clothed 

 with cultivated plants, the metamorphosis 

 which has taken place extends in its effects 

 to the indigenous animals ; and in this de- 

 partment, its effects are nearly as conspi- 

 cuous and important as in relation to vege- 

 tation. Some wild animals are incapable 

 of accommodating themselves to the change 

 of circumstances ; others at once adapt 

 themselves to new modes of life, and in- 

 crease greatly in numbers. It was before 

 stated, that the barrens, when clothed with 

 shrubs, young trees and herbaceous plants, 

 were in a condition highly favorable to the 

 support of wild animals ; and perhaps there 

 are few species which could not subsist 

 more easily in a country at least partially 

 in this state. For this reason, the transi- 

 tion of a country from the forest state to 

 that of burned barrens, is temporarily favo- 

 rable to many species, which disappear be- 

 fore the progress of cultivation ; and this 

 would be more evident than it is, if Euro- 

 pean colonization did not tend to produce a 

 more destructive warfare against such spe- 

 cies than could be carried on by the abori- 

 gines. The ruffed grouse, a truly woodland 

 bird, becomes, when unmolested, more nu- 

 merous on the margins of barrens and clear- 

 ings, than in other parts of the woods. The 

 hare multiplies exceedingly in young second 

 growths of birch. The wild pigeon has its 



favorite resort in the barrens during a great 

 part of the summer. The moose and cari- 

 boo, in summer, find better supplies of food 

 in second growth and barrens than in the 

 old forests. The large quantities of decay- 

 ing wood, left by fires and woodcutters, af- 

 ford more abundant means of subsistence 

 to the tribe of woodpeckers. Many of the 

 fly-catchers, warblers, thrushes and spar- 

 rows, greatly prefer the barrens to most 

 other places. Carnivorous birds and qua- 

 drupeds are found in such places in num- 

 bers proportioned to the supplies of food 

 which they afford. The number of instan- 

 ces of this kind might be increased to a 

 great extent if necessary ; enough, has, 

 however, been stated to illustrate the fact. 

 Nearly all the animals above noticed, 

 and many others, disappear when the coun- 

 try becomes cultivated. There are, how- 

 ever, other species which increase in num- 

 bers, and at once adapt themselves to the 

 new conditions introduced by man. The 

 robin {Tardus migratorius) resorts to and 

 derives its subsistence from the fields, and 

 greatly multiplies, though much persecuted 

 by sportsmen. The Fringilla nivalis, a 

 summer bird in Nova Scotia, becomes very 

 familiar, building in out-houses, and fre- 

 quenting barns in search of food. The 

 song sparrow and Savannah finch, swarm 

 in the cultivated ground. The yellow-bird 

 [Sylvia cBstiva) becomes very familiar, of- 

 ten building in gardens. The golden- 

 winged woodpecker resorts to the cultivated 

 fields, picking grubs and worms from the 

 ground. The cliff-swallow exchanges the 

 faces of rocks for the eaves of barns and 

 houses ; and the barn and chimney-SAval- 

 lows are every where ready to avail them- 

 selves of the accommodation afforded by 

 buildings. The acadian or little owl makes 

 its abode in barns during winter. The 

 bob-lincoln, the king-bird, the waxwing or 

 cherry bird, and the humming bird, are 

 among the species which profit by the pro- 

 gress of cultivation. The larger quadru- 

 peds disappear, but the fox and ermine still 

 prowl about the cultivated grounds, and the 

 field-mouse {Arvicola pe?msylvanica,) which 

 is very abundant in some parts of the woods, 

 is equally so in the fields. Many insects 

 are vastly increased in numbers, in conse- 



