432 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



ENEMIES OF ADIRONDACK BIRDS 



Predatory Mammals. In the foregoing pages I have presented 

 the favorable features of the western Adirondack forest as a sum- 

 mer habitat for birds. The North Woods was originally tenanted 

 by predacious animals of many kinds which preyed on their weaker 

 neighbors and among them were numerous species of birds. Most 

 of these have been so thoroughly killed off and driven away that 

 they are no longer a serious menace in the Adirondack woods, but 

 some few remain. Wildcats, foxes, skunks, weasels, martens, squir- 

 rels, mice, snakes, hawks, owls, Crows, Jays and Cowbirds all 

 destroy birds or their nestlings, but happily none of these is numer- 

 ous in the Adirondacks, and some of them are so rare as to be negli- 

 gible at least in the western area. 



Men and boys, directly and indirectly, do more harm, perhaps, 

 than any other bird enemy, — directly by shooting and by robbery of 

 nests, and indirectly by destroying through their " improvements," 

 favorable and habitual haunts. The two carnivorous animals they 

 bring with them — the dog and the cat — add a new and destructive 

 feature to the predatory side of nature. Dogs undoubtedly find and 

 eat the eggs of ground-nesting birds, and disturb them grievously 

 when they do not rob them. Far worse than this, however, is the 

 marauding house cat, now undoubtedly the worst enemy against 

 which birds making homes anywhere near civilization have to 

 contend. In the latter part of summer two kittens were brought to 

 Barber Point and installed in the Camp kitchen. They at once began 

 depredations upon the } oung birds just leaving their nests, and there- 

 after took one, two or three every day. Inasmuch as the cat is an 

 introduced enemy of the birds, its ravages are more severe than 

 those of natural enemies, particularly in the nesting season when 

 birds are practically helpless against its craftiness. 



The red squirrel, next to the house cat, is regarded by natural- 

 ists as the predator most harmful to birds. Dr. Merriam states 

 ('86, p. 215) : "The propensity to suck the eggs and destroy the 

 young of our smaller birds is the worst trait of the red squirrel, 

 and is in itself sufficient reason for his extermination, at least about 

 the habitations of man. I have myself known him to rob the nests 

 of the Red-eyed Vireo. Chipping Sparrow, Robin, Wilson's Thrush, 

 and Ruffed Grouse, and doubt not that thousands of eggs are annu- 

 ally sacrificed, in the Adirondack region alone, to gratify this 

 appetite. Therefore, when abundant, as he always is during the 

 springs that follow good nut years, his influence in checking the in- 

 crease of our insectivorous birds can hardly be overestimated." 

 Fortunately, this excitable little marauder is ordinarily not very 

 numerous at Cranberry Lake, but its numbers vary from year to 

 year. (Cf. Thorns. Bird Lore, Vol. 24, pp. 206-207, 1922.) 



The Adirondack plateau forests lacks oaks, hickories, walnuts and 

 chestnuts, hence the larger squirrels can not find the staple articles 

 of their regular fare in this region. The beech is the only mast- 

 producing tree. Where conifers abound, the red squirrel can ob- 



