Relation of Summer Birds to Western Adirondack Forest 465 

 / 

 mingled as to form a support strong enough to hold up a man in 

 walking over it, though the whole mass will float when driven by 

 a strong wind. Frequently a colony of Red-wings of considerable 

 size would be associated with one of these islands. 



* Cowbird. Molothrus atcr ater (Bodd.) 



The Cowbird was not seen at Cranberry Lake in 1916. Eaton 

 ('14, pp. 225-226) says of it: "It is altogether too common a 

 summer resident in all portions of the State up to the beginning of 

 the Canadian zone, but it also invades the valleys and cleared lands 

 of the Adirondacks to the farthest edge of the Alleghanian area in 

 that district." 



Crow. Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos Brehm 

 At Cranberry Lake I never heard the Crow except along Sucker 

 Brook or near one of the inlets opening into the lake, and never more 

 than one was seen or heard at any observation, the individuals 

 seeming to live a solitary life. 



* Northern Raven. Corvus corax principalis Ridgw. 



I did not see a Raven. Eaton ('14, p. 212) states that "at the 

 present time a few may be seen in the western Adirondack region, 

 especially in the northern portions of Hamilton and Herkimer 

 counties, the southern portion of St. Lawrence County and the 

 eastern portion of Lewis county." 



* Canada Jay. Perisoreus canadensis canadensis (Linn.) 



The Canada Jay was not observed at Cranberry Lake by me in 

 1916. Roosevelt and Minot ('77, p. 3) report it as "locally com- 

 mon in the thicker woods." Eaton ('14, p. 210) says that it " is 

 confined to the Adirondack district and is scarcely if ever, seen 

 outside the spruce and balsam belt." 



Blue Jay. Cyanocitta cristata cristata (Linn.) 



Length 11. 7. Crested; above gray-blue; lower surface grayish and 

 white ; corners of tail white. 



The Blue Jay frequents the margins of the forest along the stream 

 valleys, preferably where a brook skirts an ancient stream bed so 

 that the level stretches make an open margin in the thick woods. 

 The Blue Jay also resorts to any burn, if there are scattered or sepa- 

 rate trees of medium size, the beech being favored as a producer 

 of nuts; and it also patronizes' the open portions of the Bog, using 

 the tall tree remnants as lookouts for its foraging excursions. Blue 

 Jays ordinarily associate in little parties of two or three, after the 

 young are on the wing, or perhaps an entire family will forage 

 together. One will perhaps fly ahead, and then another may pre- 

 sently follow over the same line of flight, usually keeping above 

 the forest in flying from one station to another. Once this summer 

 I saw a troop of ten cross the bog in this way. one at a time, all 

 keeping in the same general direction, and each calling loudly 

 and stopping in about the same place in the woods where the leader 

 had stopped. 



