74 



Bird - Lore 



height of forest trees, up through alders, 

 bayberry, barberry, dogwoods, white 

 birches, cedars, to choke- and black cherries 

 of tree size, is of greater importance to 

 bird-life than the forest trees themselves. 

 Yet the man who will rightly hesitate 

 to fell a decrepit elm because it harbors 

 the Baltimore Oriole or a Robin or two in 

 high crotches, will thoughtlessly order t;he 

 wholesale clearing of some brush lot with its 

 pointed cedars, through which perhaps a 

 little water-course wends its way, and in so 

 doing dislodge the homes of a bevy of 

 Yellow-throats, Chats, Indigo-birds, 

 Thrashers, Catbirds, Redwings, etc., be- 

 sides drying up the water-course and fatally 

 interfering with the cover and food -supply 

 of our winter residents, even including the 

 game-birds. 



We make resolutions every time that spring 

 retouches us with its magic and the spirit 

 of forestry whispers to plant more trees 

 to shade our water-courses, more trees 

 to intervene between ourselves and the sun, 

 more trees to yield shelter and food to the 

 birds, in foliage, fruit, and bark crevices; 

 and it is good to plant, but better yet to 

 refrain from destroying. The tree or bush 

 we plant may or may not be suitable to the 

 location and grow, that which we destroy 

 has already proved itself by flourishing, and 

 we may judge of its merit by experience. 

 Also the responsibility of replanting and 

 introducing perhaps new species of wild 

 fruits into a locality is almost as great as 

 that of importing new species of birds. 

 For instance, the black wild-cherry {Primus 

 serotina) of the middle states, growing in 

 bushy clumps when headed back, but, left 

 alone, growing to be a large tree, is a fashion- 

 able summer resort for birds of high and 

 low degree for six weeks or so, when they 

 collect from far and wide to take a course of 

 its fruit in all states of ripeness and unripe- 

 ness. 



One would naturally think it a tree to be 

 planted freely in time of need, even as the 

 birds themselves sow it freely, via the un- 

 digested stones of the cherries they swallow. 

 Instead of which, it is a species doubly to be 

 avoided. In the first place, it harbors the 

 unsightly nest of the tent-caterpillar, one of 



the greatest blots on the wayside landscape, 

 and, secondly, it is highly dangerous to 

 a cattle-grazing country or for the home 

 pasture, as the leaves eaten zuhen ^withered, 

 owing to the prussic acid in them, will de- 

 stroy cattle by a sort of paralysis of the 

 lungs, and as the species is prone to be 

 wind-broken on slight provocation, the ex- 

 tent of its mischief can be easily estimated. 



Alders for screening, the flowering dog- 

 wood and magnolias (whose berries are be- 

 loved of the Hermit Thrush), grape-vines, 

 black currants, and the hardiest varieties of 

 raspberries and blackberries are all safe things 

 to plant near tumble-down walls if there is 

 a sufficient depth of soil. The white-flow- 

 ering elder, with its flat clusters of rich 

 juicy berries, will flourish in any damp spot, 

 as will also the winterberry {Ilex verticil- 

 lata), while the Chinese honeysuckle and 

 the Virginia creeper should be scattered 

 broadcast for the sake of their berries. 



One tree there is that should be regarded 

 as a thing sacred, like the oak, and equally 

 protected — the red Cedar, which, like the 

 red man himself, retreats before cultivation 

 and is almost unplantable. Its closely 

 twigged branches make it impervious to 

 storm and offer a fine winter roost, and its 

 purplish berries with the hoary bloom yield 

 living rations when all below is frozen and 

 inaccessible — nay more, when laid low by 

 storms its very broken branches are in 

 themselves a city of refuge. To a fallen 

 cedar top, meshed with vines and lying 

 near a tumble-down wall of an empty farm^ 

 was I in debt last year for the joy of having 

 a pair of Carolina Wrens and their two 

 broods for neighbors. But alas! what will 

 happen if the new purchaser of the land 

 'improves' his back fence? — M. O. W. 



National Committee Notes 



By the Chairman 



"Or what man is there of you, whom, if 

 his son ask bread, will he give him a 

 stone ? " Two months since, the Chairman 

 asked for promises of aid in the important 

 matter of incorporation of the National 

 Audubon Committee, in order that it might 

 be in a position to appeal to the public for 



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