282 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



it a Cardinal. The female is mainly gray, with tinges of red on 

 crest and wings. 



It is a curious fact that rarities among bright colored birds are 

 likely to be found frequently by amateurs far out of their range, 

 whereas duller colored birds, extremely common in their vicinity, 

 remain unknown. The Cardinal is rare in the Park, whereas the 

 other red bird, the Scarlet Tanager, is decidedly common. The 

 finding of this southern bird along a roadside where I had just 

 been listening to Hermit Thrushes and Juncos, was a decided sur- 

 prise to me. A pair of birds was found on July 23 along the road 

 up Limestone Brook, some four miles west of Limestone, and the 

 male again July 26. I am informed by Mr. T. L. Bourne of Ham- 

 burg that this species occurs regularly but rarely in Western New 

 York, and seems to be increasing. It is mainly an inhabitant of 

 thickets and low bushes. 



The song of the Cardinal is a series of clear, loudly reiterated 

 whistles, sometimes slurred up the scale, sometimes down. The song 

 often grows louder toward the end. It is exceedingly variable : the 

 bird found in the Park was singing no less than six variations. The 

 four commonest of these songs I wrote as follows: 1. "Twit 

 twit cheeah twit twit twit twit." 2. " Tooweet tooweet tootootoo- 

 tootootootoo." 3. "Tooleet tooleet toolit toolit toolit toolit toolit." 

 4. " Teeo teeo teeo teeo teeo teeo teeo teeo." 



The nest is placed in a low, thick bush, usually not far from the 

 ground. The eggs are finely speckled with brown. 



BIRDS OF THE FOREST 



Forests cover the larger part of the Allegany Park. A character- 

 istic view of these is shown in figure 79. To most visitors these 

 forests will be of greater interest than the other areas. The birds 

 that occur in forests are less well known than those of orchards and 

 fields, yet they are often equally common. 



Two distinct forest types occur in the Park, the oak and chestnut 

 forest, and the maple and beech forest (figure 80). The occur- 

 rence of either type seems to depend more upon soil and exposure 

 than upon altitude or climatic differences. Oak and chestnut forest 

 covers the smaller area of the two and occurs more commonly on 

 the west side of the Park near the river, on gentle south and west 

 slopes, or broad, flat ridge tops. The maple and beech forest cov- 

 ers the larger area, being the only type found about the heads of 

 streams. It occurs on steep or gentle slopes of north or south ex- 

 posure or along the tops of ridges, seeming to follow no fixed rule 

 except near the river where it prefers the north and east slopes, 

 leaving the south and west areas to oak and chestnut. While many 

 birds occur only in the maple-beech forest, there seem to be no 

 birds that are characteristic of oak and chestnut alone, although 

 there are many plants that are strictly so. 



We may further divide the birds of the forest roughly into those 

 that inhabit the forest floor, those that inhabit the undergrowth, 



