Relation of Summer Birds to Western Adirondack Forest 429 



As the scales of the pine cones are large and stiff, only the larger 

 of the winter seecl-eating birds feed upon their seeds to any extent. 

 Chapman ('97, p. 1196) says of the Crossbills that " they feed almost 

 entirely upon the seeds of pines." It has been my observation, how- 

 ever, that the Crossbills seek the seeds of the tamarack and fir in 

 preference to those of the pine, though this may be explained by 

 the great irregularity of the pine in the production of its seed. It 

 has been asserted that the white pine can be relied upon to produce 

 a crop only once in five or six years. 



In forest nurseries, ground-feeding Sparrows, including the 

 White-throated Sparrow, commonly destroy numbers of white pine 

 seedlings as soon as they appear above the ground, eating the ten- 

 der cotyledon leaves. Whether they do similar damage in the for- 

 est under natural conditions is a question. 



Among the birds attracted to the white pine in search of certain 

 insects, Forbush ('13, p. 161) mentions the Golden-crowned King- 

 let as feeding on the eggs of the white pine louse ; also that the 

 Chickadee and the Downy Woodpecker kill many white pine weevils 

 (Pissodes strobi) and their larvae which are very destructive to 

 the tender leading shoots of young trees. Dr. Beal ('06, p. 245) 

 informs us that about thirty-five species of the cerambycid and bu- 

 prestid beetles feed on the pine tree ; and shows that the Downy, 

 the Hairy, and the Three-toed Woodpecker prey upon the larvae 

 of these very destructive borers. If this tree was otherwise more 

 attractive to birds it is probable that it would not suffer as severely 

 as it does from insect attack. 



The Tamarack and the Birds. Prominent in the swampy parts 

 of the forest is the larch or tamarack (Larix laricina). Where un- 

 disturbed, it grows to a stately height, sending its slender spire far 

 above its surroundings, and terminating in a symmetrical cone of 

 foliage. It stands chiefly in bogs and at the edge of swamps and 

 meadows, where its slender light-green foliage gives a pleasing 

 variety among other darker conifers. It produces small cones, 

 whose seeds are a staple food supply for seed-eating tenants of the 

 forest, but it is irregular in yield. While not so much used for 

 nesting sites as the other conifers, it is a favorite foraging ground 

 for insectivorous birds. A well-developed, mature tamarack tower- 

 ing perhaps to a height of 100 feet, will include several clearly de- 

 fined zones of bird activity. A Woodpecker may be working 

 diligently on the lower portion of the trunk, a troop of Chickadees 

 or Nuthatches or Kinglets at the same time gleaning industriously 

 in the foliage a few feet above, and Crossbills or Pine Siskins 

 feeding on the seeds near its top. 



The Alder and the Birds. The speckled or hoary alder (Alnus 

 incana) is met with wherever streams meander sluggishly through 

 level territory, their banks clothed in a spreading tangle ten or 

 twelve feet in height. Its fruit is a small scaly cone like that of the 

 birch, which clings to its place on the branch throughout the winter. 

 The alders form a cover for hordes of water insects,- — mosquitoes, 

 flies and the like, — and all the insect-catching birds resort to its 



