Relation of Summer Birds to Western Adirondack Forest 399 



by the Grasse River Railroad to Cranberry Lake village at its 

 northern extremity. Service boats transport visitors to the various 

 landings on its shores. 



The Cranberry Lake district is typical of the western Adirondack 

 region. The lake is surrounded by a forest that has been modified 

 as elsewhere by lumbering operations and by fires ; and it presents 

 much variety, from patches of dense virgin timber to denuded hill- 

 sides showing only bare rock slopes and exposed sand hills, while 

 many burned areas blacken its shores. The lake has an elevation 

 of 1,486 feet above sea level, and as the highest mountains in the 

 vicinity are only slightly more than 2,300 feet in altitude, the forest 

 there has that same uniformity of composition that characterizes 

 the whole Adirondack region, except on the highest peaks. 



This forest, the great " North Woods," is characteristically a 

 mixed forest of conifers and hardwoods ; and as it has reached its 

 ultimate stage of adjustment, as to both the mutual relations of the 

 trees and plants composing it and as to the physical environment, it 

 is said to have attained its " climax." Although it has been greatly 

 injured by the axe and by fire, its primitive character is still 

 apparent. 



It needs no argument to justify the conclusion that the nature and 

 extent of these woodlands have determined, the character and lim- 

 itations of their avifauna, taking into consideration the general 

 climate of the region. Safety in rearing their young, a minimum 

 of danger from molestation by enemies, and retreats for protection 

 and retirement, are requirements that render woodlands a vital 

 necessity for the great majority of birds during the nesting season. 

 Yet the situations most suitable are not in the vast stretches of for- 

 est solitude, but rather in broken woodlands where there are areas 

 of illumination, streams or ponds, shrubbery for shelter and nesting 

 places, and an ample food supply. With these advantages the 

 Adirondack region is abundantly supplied, as well as with a variety 

 of conditions sufficient to satisfy a wide range of bird habits and 

 tastes. 



The Adirondack mixed forest is composed of a few species of 

 conifers and hardwoods, the two groups being represented in about 

 equal proportions. The conifers are the balsam fir {Abies 

 balsamea) , red spruce (Picea rubra), black spruce (Picca mariana), 

 white pine (Pinus Strobus), — also red pine (Pinus resinosa) on 

 Cranberry Lake, — hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), and larch or 

 tamarack . (Larix laricina). The larch grows principally in boggy 

 forests, but white cedar (Thuja occidentalis) is to be found where 

 swamps prevail. The hemlock is associated chiefly with streamsides 

 and lakeshores, or cool north slopes, where there is plenty of mois- 

 ture combined with good drainage. The white pine abounds on 

 sandy soils. The balsam and spruces are very generally distributed. 

 The hardwoods include the sugar maple (Acer saccharum), beech 

 (Fagus americana), paper or white birch (Bctula alba papyrifera) , 

 and yellow birch (Betula lutea). There are no other prominent 

 deciduous trees, although frequently the large-toothed aspen (Popu- 



