January 25, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest. 



39 



r 



evergreens. The number of evergreen shrubs in propor- 

 tion to the entire flora is much greater in Japan, too, than 

 it is in America, and plants of this character grow much 

 further north in the former than in the latter country. The 

 small number of species of Pinus in Japan, and their 

 scarcity at the north, is in striking contrast to the number 

 and distribution of this genus in eastern America, where 

 there are thirteen species, to only five in Japan (including 

 one shrub). In Japan the Hemlock forms continuous and 

 almost unbroken forests of great extent on the mountain- 

 slopes, which are over 5,000 feet above the sea, while in 

 eastern America this tree is rarely found except scattered in 

 small groves or as single individuals through the deciduous- 

 leaved forests. On the other hand, Picea and Abies, which 

 in America form immense forests, almost to the exclusion 

 of other species, wherever I have seen them in Japan, grow 

 singly, or, in the case of Abies, in small groves on the 

 lower border of the Hemlock-forests or mingled with de- 

 ciduous-leaved trees. Picea Ajanensis is said, however, to 

 form extensive forests in some parts of western Yezo, and 

 Professor Miyabe informs me that in the extreme northern 

 part of that island there are fine continuous forests of Abies 

 Sachalinense. In northern Japan and on the high moun- 

 tains of the central islands Birches are more abundant than 

 they are in our northern forests ; and the river-banks at the 

 north, like those of northern Europe and Siberia, are lined 

 with arborescent Willows and Alders, which are rare in 

 eastern America, where these two genera are usually rep- 

 resented by shrubs. 



The illustration on page 43 gives some idea of the 

 general appearance of the great coniferous forests which 

 cover the highlands of central Japan. In the foreground, 

 Lake Yumoto, famous for its thermal springs, nestles 5,000 

 feet above the sea among the Nikko Mountains. The 

 forests which rise from the shores of the lake are princi- 

 pally comprised of Hemlock (Tsuga divisifolia), among 

 which are Birch (Betula Ermanni), Abies and Picea, Ptero- 

 carya, Cercidiphyllum and the Mountain Ash. In the 

 dense shade by the shores of the lake grow dwarf forms of 

 the Indian Azalea, Elliottiapaniculata, our Canadian Bunch 

 Berry (Cornus Canadensis), great masses of Rhododendron 

 Metternichii, which in these forests replaces Rhododendron 

 Catawbiense of the Appalachian Mountains, the dwarf Ilex 

 rugosa, Clethra, here at the upper limits of its distribution, 

 Panax horrida, and the dwarf Blueberries which inhabit 

 mountain slopes in all northern countries, as well as the 

 ubiquitous Bamboos. 



The undergrowth which covers the ground beneath the 

 forests in the two regions is so unlike that it must at once 

 attract the attention of the most careless observer. In 

 America this is composed of a great number of shrubs, 

 chiefly of various species of Vaccinium and Gaylusachia, 

 of Epigsea, wild Roses, Kalmias, dwarf Pyrus and Lico- 

 podiums ; in Japan the forest-floor is covered, even high 

 on the mountains, and in the extreme north, with a con- 

 tinuous, almost impenetrable, mass of dwarf Bamboos 

 of several species, which make traveling in the woods, 

 except over long-beaten paths and up the beds of 

 streams, practically impossible. These Bamboos, which 

 vary in height from three to six feet in different parts 

 of the country, make the forest-floor monotonous and 

 uninteresting, and prevent the growth of nearly all 

 other under-shrubs, except the most vigorous species. 

 Shrubs, therefore, are mostly driven to the borders or roads 

 and other open places, or to the banks of streams and lakes, 

 where they can obtain sufficient light to enable themselves 

 to rise above the Bamboos ; and, it is the abundance of the 

 Bamboo, no doubt, which has developed the climbing habit 

 of many Japanese plants, which are obliged to ascend the 

 trees in search of sun and light, for the Japanese forest is 

 filled with climbing shrubs, which flourish with tropical 

 luxuriance. 



The wild Grape grows in the damp forests of Yezo with 

 a vigor and to a size which the American species do not 

 attain, even in the semi-tropical climate of the southern 



Mississippi valley. Actinidia arguta climbs into the tops 

 of the tallest trees, and nothing is so un-American or so 

 attracts the attention of the American traveler in Japan as 

 the trunks of trees clothed to the height of sixty or eighty 

 feet with splendid masses of the climbing Hydrangeas (H. 

 petiolaris and Schizophragma), or with the lustrous evergreen 

 foliage of the climbing Evonymus. Wistaria is represented, 

 it is true, in eastern America, but here it is nowhere very 

 common or one of the chief features of vegetation as it is 

 in Japan ; and the Ivy, a southern plant only in Japan, 

 and not very common, helps to remind the traveler that he 

 is in the Old and not in the New World. C. S. S. 



Winter Birds in the Pines. 



A ITE see many more birds in winter when it is very cold, and 

 * * the ground is covered with snow, than we do in mild 

 weather, for the snow forces them from the fields and vine- 

 yards, and from the covert of wild tangled undergrowth in the 

 low Pines to our homes for food. I liave observed some thirty 

 species that visit our grounds during winter, and many others 

 stay about the streams and along the coast. 



Tlie birds which accept our hospitality, and become more 

 or less domesticated in winter, are the song-sparrow, the 

 white-throated sparrow, the slate-colored sparrow, the English 

 sparrow, the black-capped chickadee and the blue jay. The 

 occasional visitors which mingle with our regular pensioners 

 at the door are the fox sparrow, the tree sparrow, the gold- 

 finch, the purple finch, the field sparrow and the meadow lark. 

 Others which I see about the place that do not mingle with the 

 feeding birds about the house are pine linnets, cardinal birds, 

 vesper birds, bluebirds, quails, golden-winged woodpeckers, 

 downy woodpeckers, brown creepers, winter wrens, Carolina 

 wrens, cedar birds, crows, two or three species of hawk, 

 screecla owls and robins. Some observers report that they 

 have seen the catbird in winter, but I have never been favored 

 with a sight of him after November. 



We can form some estimate of the importance of these birds 

 to farmers and gardeners when we realize the amount of food 

 a comparatively small flock will consume at our doors in in- 

 clement weather. They will accept almost any food when the 

 ground is covered with snow, but they prefer millet-seed and 

 coarse-ground corn and oats. The flock which I feed con- 

 sumes daily a quart or more of this grain, besides much from 

 the table. Very rarely does an English sparrow mingle with 

 these birds. I have at last, by patient perseverance, banished 

 these pests from my premises, and in the most humane man- 

 ner possible. I have simply not allowed them to breed on the 

 place. A few years ago they were here in great numbers, 

 driving bluebirds and wrens and martins from their boxes. 

 At last I had boxes made on purpose for the plagues with a 

 hinged cover, and allowed each occupant to lay the requisite 

 number of eggs, usually six, and commence to incubate, when 

 I would destroy the eggs without disturbing the nest. At first 

 the little simpletons, after making a great ado, would in a few 

 days thereafter again lay eggs in the same boxes. Sometimes 

 over thirty eggs were laid in one box. But even the English 

 sparrow finally learns prudence. Each year they appeared in 

 diminished numbers, and last season only one pair attempted 

 to preempt a box, and they left after the first setting of eggs 

 was destroyed, and the bluebirds and wrens had peace. They 

 also tried building in the Cedars, and these nests were promptly 

 removed. 



Most of the birds that we see in winter are permanent resi- 

 dents ; a few, however, come from the north, and remain until 

 spring. Among these is the white-throated sparrow, our most 

 handsome species. His throat is pure white, and white streaks 

 are on the head, bordered on either side with dark reddish 

 brown, with a bright yellow spot near the eye, and the back and 

 wings are streaked with briglit bay. He remains with us until he 

 is in full song, and then departs in May to his northern home. 



The fox sparrow is another handsome winter resident, 

 something larger than the white-throat and more shy. His 

 color is reddish, or bright rufous, on the back, and under parts 

 lighter, streaked and spotted with brown. He makes a great 

 commotion scratching among the dry leaves under Lilacs 

 and other shrubs. He does not scratch like a chicken, but 

 strikes with both feet at the same time, and then looks for 

 what seeds or hibernating insects he may have unearthed. 

 The tree sparrow is a beautiful aristocratic dweller among the 

 winter birds, wlao retires to the mountains in summer, as his 

 scientific name, Spizella monticola, indicates. 



The slate-colored sparrow (Junco hiemalis), or snow-bird, as 



