Birds and Forest Vegetation 493 



injurious forest insects, one of the most important relations of birds 

 to forests, was not considered in the limited time available for field 

 study.* 



Reforestation by Birds. That birds eat many kinds of wild 

 fruits is well known to observers of their feeding habits. For 

 example, 39 species of birds are recorded (McAtee '10, p. 186) to 

 feed upon wild cherries (Prunus), while raspberries and blackberries 

 are known to be eaten by 60 species of birds. In general the kinds 

 of bird-planted fruits are those that possess three characteristics : an 

 attractive pulp or nourishing fruit ; sufficiently small size to be 

 readily swallowed ; and seeds which in some manner are able to 

 resist digestion while in the body of the animal — otherwise, of 

 course, the seed would be destroyed, and could not be dropped on 

 some favorable site. Their preservation is usually accomplished by 

 a non-digestible covering that surrounds the germ. Some seeds are 

 also scattered by regurgitation. 



The presence in the region of the Cedar-bird (Bombycilla ced- 

 rorum), Robin (Planesticus migratorius migratorius), Catbird 

 {Dumetella carolinensis) , Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus togata), 

 and many other birds known to eat fruits is a sufficient guarantee, 

 if any were necessary, that birds are available agencies for scatter- 

 ing seeds. 



Small red cherries were very abundant locally along Sucker 

 Brook, where great numbers of Cedar-birds were seen perched 

 upon the burned stubs. Never have I seen a greater abundance of 

 wild red raspberry fruit than abounded in the burned and other 

 open places. The amount of this food was far in excess of that 

 which the birds and other animals of the vicinity were able to utilize, 

 and as a result it decayed by the bushel. The stomach of one Cedar- 

 bird was found to contain four cherry stones. On one field-trip 

 Mr. W. E. Sanderson found a Robin's nest with two young beside 

 a stump on the bank of a very small stream, near where the stream 

 from Curtis Pond crosses the logging road to Sucker Brook. When 

 the nest was visited again six days later (August 24), during which 

 interval there had been a severe downpour, the young birds were 

 found dead in the nest. (The dead birds were determined by Mr. 

 W. DeW. Miller, of the American Museum of Natural History). 

 In and about this nest I counted 145 cherry stones which could be 

 counted without destroying the nest, and some stones were left in 

 the field when the nest was collected. Such an accumulation of 

 stones about the nest shows clearly the importance of this fruit in 

 the diet of the Robin. With high water these cherry stones would 

 be transported to other localities and scattered. 



Five caged fledged nestlings of the Cedar-bird were fed by Bolles 

 ('90, p. 290) 8,400 cherries in 12 days. He says: " On the average 

 the old bird or birds made 140 visits a day, bringing five cherries 

 each time. One was carried in the beak, and the others were jerked 

 up from the throat one by one until all of the five young were fed." 



* Those interested in this phase should consult Sterling ('02) and especially 

 McAtee ('15). 



