42 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Hermit thrush 



Robin 



Bluebird 



THE MT MARCY REGION 



During the summer of 1905, beginning on the 15th of June and ending 

 the first week of August, the author and his assistants undertook a survey 

 of the bird hfe about the Ausable lakes and Mt Marcy slopes. The especial 

 object of this study was to obtain an exhaustive list of the birds nesting 

 in the highest portion of the Adirondack wilderness, and to estimate as 

 nearly as possible the relative abundance of each species. The thrushes, 

 warblers, and sparrows were mostly in full voice, and the number of pairs 

 of breeding birds could easily be counted while passing through the woods 

 or along the trails. The attempt was made to give a fair consideration 

 both to the virgin forest which is very extensive in the lands of the Adiron- 

 dack Forest Reserve; to the spruce swamps, sphagnum bogs and extensive 

 slashings of the Mclntyre Iron Co. ; and to the clearings about Keene Valley, 

 Elk lake, Boreas River, and John Brown's grave, as well as to the higher 

 portions of the Boreas range, Bartlett ridge and the high peaks of the 

 Adirondacks such as Marcy, Skylight, Haystack, Colvin and Whiteface. 



In the virgin forest, birds, in general, were much less numerous than about 

 the slashings, clearings, burnt tracts and swamps. A few species seemed to be 

 quite generally distributed even in the dense forest. These were the Olive- 

 backed thrush. Hermit thrush. Chickadee, Red-bellied nuthatch, Brown 

 creeper, Winter wren, Ovenbird, Black -throated green warbler, Black- 

 bumian warbler, Myrtle warbler, Black-throated blue warbler, Red-eyed 

 vireo. Blue jay, Yellow-bellied sapsucker, and Canadian ruffed grouse. 

 But even these species were more numerous near the edges of lakes or 

 clearings, or along the borders of swamps and streams. 



