490 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE REGION 



During August of 1915 and again in 1916 I spent several days at 

 the Sophomore Summer Camp of The New York State College of 

 Forestry, at Barber Point, Cranberry Lake, Wanakena, N. Y. This 

 camp is situated on the southeastern side of Cranberry Lake, south 

 of East Inlet, and on the north bank at the mouth of Sucker Brook 

 (figures 142 and 143). The region about the Camp was lumbered in 

 1909 and 1910 and was largely burned over in 191 1. The unburned 

 cut-over forest is composed largely of hardwoods, crippled trees, 

 gnarled, fungus infested, and decayed trunks left when the red 

 spruce (Picea rubra) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea) were cut. 

 The virgin forest consisted of the hardwoods, hard maple (Acer 

 saccharum) , yellow birch (Betula lutea) and beetch (Fagus ameri- 

 cana), with scattered canoe birch (Betula alba papyrifera), quaking 

 aspen (Populus tremuloides) , large-toothed aspen (Populus grandi- 

 dentata) and bird or fire cherry (Prunus pennsylvanica) . Mixed 

 with these hardwoods were the hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) and red 

 spruce (Picea rubra), balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white pine 

 (Pinus Strobus). 



An unburned area, lumbered for spruce (figures 143 -A and 144) 

 lay to the north and east of the Camp, as a broad strip along the 

 lakeshore, where it appears to have been protected from fire by a 

 ridge bounding it on the south and east. To the east and northeast 

 of Camp lay the large burned area with its dead and largely 

 branchless stubs, with an undergrowth of bird cherry, red rasp- 

 berries (Rubus idaeus) and other plants (figures 143-B and 145). 

 Many of the cherry trees were not in fruit but others bore in 

 abundance. The raspberries were loaded with fruit. Immediately 

 south of Sucker Brook was also a lumbered area (figure 143-C), 

 now largely hardwoods, with much undergrowth (figure 146), 

 which was formerly logged for spruce. Alder (Alnus) and willows 

 (Salix) bordered the brook. 



Most of the area was of low topographic relief, although the rock 

 ridge, which extended to the northeast of Camp, reached an eleva- 

 tion of about 330 feet as was shown by the surveying students 

 working with Mr. H. H. Tryon. East of Camp, about three miles, 

 was a beautiful virgin forest composed of yellow birch, hemlock, 

 red spruce, white pine and scattered balsam fir (figure 147). 



INFLUENCE OF BIRDS UPON THE VEGETATION 



In the time at my disposal, not much attention was devoted to 

 determining the kinds or species of birds present in the region, be- 

 cause I was chiefly interested in seeking for evidence which would 

 show the influence of birds in general on the forest. At Cranberry 

 Lake were two phases of bird activity to which I gave attention 

 because of their intimate relation to forestry. I refer to the scat- 

 tering or dispersal of vegetation by birds (and small mammals) in 

 the burned areas, and to the injury to trees by the Yellow-bellied 

 Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varhis varius). The relation of birds to 



