52 BIRDS OF THE NEW YORK CITY REGION 



definite historical evidence is lacking, it is highly probable 

 that most of the common species are far more abundant 

 individually today than two hundred and fifty years ago. 

 This is the invariable outcome of the sharp struggle for 

 existence, precipitated by a suddenly changed environment. 

 The failures disappear, the successful are rewarded in that 

 they flourish as never before, and their unconscious goal, the 

 maintenance of their race, is assured. 



However, a word of warning must be uttered, lest these 

 remarks engender undue optimism. The sharp struggle of 

 our native species to maintain themselves is not over; the 

 problem is still present; their environment is constantly 

 changing for the worse. Man, who is responsible, owes them 

 all the protection and help in his power. Economically they 

 afford him invaluable assistance, and if he will take a little 

 trouble they will open up a world of aesthetic enjoyment for 

 him, which will enrich all the years of his life. The country 

 where twenty-five years ago I learned to know the commoner 

 birds has been obliterated. The cottagers on the Palisades 

 near Fort Lee have forgotten that their homes have replaced 

 woods teeming with bird-life; the bathers on Rockaway 

 Beach would be astonished to learn that the Gulls are a dim 

 reminder of the hundred species of water-birds we used to 

 find there. May the time never come when I can hear only 

 the harsh chatter of Starlings from my house in the suburbs. 

 May the time never come when I stand some May morning 

 on the beach and miss the little Sandpipers trotting innocently 

 ahead of the tide, and gaze out to sea over a birdless ocean. 

 May the time never come when the woods and fields are so far 

 distant, that reaching them is difficult for most city dwellers. 

 Should this time come, our native birds, a priceless heritage, 

 which it has taken mysterious forces and laws many ages to 

 evolve, will have disappeared, never to return again. 



