v °g XI ] Stone, Summer Birds of Pine Barrens of N. J. 1 35 



hanging portions so as to form a receptacle for their eggs. 

 Sometimes the nest occupies the very center of a large mass of 

 the lichen, and so little do these bunches of lichen differ from 

 those which have not been made to do service as nests that it is 

 often quite impossible to distinguish between them. In the 

 swamps bordering the small lakes near Dennisville, Cape May 

 County, these little Warblers are especially abundant. 



In Atlantic County, above May's Landing, the damming of the 

 Egg Harbor River, which was accomplished many years ago, 

 has resulted in the flooding of several large cedar swamps through 

 which the river formerly flowed, so that now the surface of the 

 stream, nearly a quarter of a mile in width, is covered with the 

 bare and bleached trunks of the cedars and other trees, which 

 appear like a dense forest of telegraph poles. 



These rotten trunks have not been overlooked by the birds, 

 and several species here find congenial nesting sites ; but although 

 they would seem to be safer from molestation here than on the 

 land, one would think that it must fare badly with the young in 

 their first attempts at flying. The Flickers were probably the first 

 settlers, so to speak, of this aquatic colony, and they still nest in 

 the larger trunks, the bottoms of their nests being in many 

 cases but a few inches above the surface of the water. 



In the old Flickers' nests, or inside the fragile bark shells of 

 the stumps most advanced in decay, the Carolina Chickadees 

 and Tree Swallows form their nests. In addition to these birds 

 a few Kingbirds and Robins occupy the stumps of such trees as 

 were formerly used by the Flickers, and which have broken off 

 so as to leave the bottoms of the old excavations as convenient 

 receptacles for the structures of the succeeding tenants. 



A list of the species known to summer in the Pine Barrens 

 follows. This is based mainly upon my own experience, but 

 I am also indebted for many interesting notes to various 

 members of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club, espe- 

 cially to Messrs. S. N. Rhoads, J. H. Reed, C. A. Voelker, 

 M. L. C. Wilde, and I. N. DeHaven. 



1. Aix sponsa. Wood Duck. — Frequent along the Egg Harbor and 

 other rivers. 



2. Ardea herodias. Great Blue Heron. — Seen throughout the 

 year, and doubtless some heronries are to be found in the dense cedar 

 swamps, although I have never seen any nests. 



