22 Forestry Quarterly . 



within. Witli sucli a division of labor in a body of such inde- 

 fatigable workers, it is plainly evident that it is necessary only to 

 have the proper-sized working force to insure complete protection. 



The casual observer in the Adirondacks would affirm that the 

 number of species of birds, as well as the sum total, is small. 

 Careful observation, however, indicates that the bird population 

 is greater than is evidenced at first sight. From notes kept in 

 the vicinity of Upper Saranac Lake for two seasons, the writer 

 found that the total number of resident bird species exceeded 

 seventy. Of these the greater number are insect eaters, wholly 

 or in part, and were present in sufficient numbers to be desig- 

 nated as " tolerably common." The birds which did not feed on 

 insects, added their quota of good by destroying noxious weed 

 seeds. 



This list of birds may be roughly giouped as follows : 



Woodpeckers. — In our north woods country, the woodpeckers 

 deserve first place in the category of beneficial birds. Their 

 chi.sel-like bill, sharp, distensible tongue, and acute hearing en- 

 able them to locate tree borers, and remove them at a stage 

 when they are doing the most harm. These birds are often ac- 

 cused of injuring trees, but with the exception of a single species 

 (Yellow-bellied sapsucker) they scarcely leave a mark on a 

 health)' tree. On a sickly tree, which is full of adult beetles and 

 larvae, they naturally make many holes in order to extract the 

 borers, but the injury done by the birds is much less serious 

 than that of the borers if undestroyed, and their removal not 

 only gives the tree its only chance for life, but prevents the 

 spread of the infection to neighboring trees. Then, too, their 

 peculiar bodily structure is especially adapted for capturing many 

 wood and bark borers, caterpillars and ants which would be in- 

 accessible to other birds. Since their food supply consist.s of in- 

 sect forms thus obtained, the number annually destroyed per 

 bird is enormous. 



Mr. Frank M. Chapman, the well known ornithologist, .says : 

 " It is evident that woodpeckers are great conservators of forests. 

 To them, more than to any other agency we owe the preservation 

 of timber from hordes of destructive insects." Dr. Hopkins, 

 before mentioned, says: " Woodpeckers are the most important 

 enemy of the bark beetle, and appear to be of inestimable value 

 to the spruce timber interests of the Northeast." 



