2^irb=1Lore 



A BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE 



DEVOTED TO THE STUDY AND PROTECTION OF BIRDS 



Official Organ of The Audubon Societies 



Vol. XVIII March— April, 1916 No. 2 



The World's Record for Density of Bird Population 



By GILBERT H. GROSVENOR 



Editor of the National Geographic Magazine 



With photographs by the author 



IN the winter of 1913, our family bought a farm of one hundred acres, fifty 

 acres in forest and fifty in fields, in Montgomery County, Maryland, about 

 ten miles from Washington. We moved out in April. At the time, no mem- 

 bers of the family, including my wife, six children, and myself, could name 

 more than three birds — the Crow, the Robin, and the Turkey Buzzard. We 

 had, however, become interested in birds, owing to our friendship for the 

 Editor of Bird-Lore, and for other Audubon workers, and determined to see 

 what we could do to get birds around the home, which we named Wild 

 Acres.' 



The house is a typical old farmhouse, surrounded by an old apple and pear 

 orchard, with vegetable garden and hedges, and open fields beyond. Surround- 

 ing the fields is a tract of fifty acres in woods, with a beautiful stream, and 

 several springs scattered around in the fields and woods. 



The first thing we did was to drive away the English Sparrows which had 

 possession of the place. We got small shot-guns, and, whenever a Sparrow 

 appeared, shot him. It wasn't long before those that were not shot, left. We 

 then made houses for Martins, Wrens, Bluebirds and Flickers, some of which 

 were immediately occupied. We had such success that in the winters of 19 14 

 and 191 5 we put up more houses, and in the spring of 191 5 had attracted so 

 many birds around the house that Dr. H. W. Henshaw, the Chief of the U. S. 

 Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture, became interested, and 

 delegated Dr. Wells W. Cooke to visit our place. Dr. Cooke was so impressed 

 by the number of feathered friends that we had gathered around us that he 

 urged me to make a census of the birds living on an acre or two adjacent to the 

 house, as he thought it probable that a count would bring us a world record. 

 The record up to this time was held by a family in Chevy Chase, Maryland, 

 who had attracted thirteen pairs of birds to one half-acre. 



