Birds and Forest Vegetation 495 



tional cover, under whose shade more valuable trees do grow, and 

 further, such vegetation will retard erosion of the soil and its run- 

 off much better than a sparse vegetation. That the growth of 

 cherry, aspens, etc., is favorable to the reproduction of more valuable 

 trees is well known, and is expressed by Frothingham ('11, p. 24), 

 who says : " Just as fire cherry and other small or short-lived trees 

 and shrubs form ' temporary ' stands over aspen, so the aspen, in 

 most of its extensive stands, is itself merely temporary, and gives 

 place, within a single generation, to relatively permanent stands 

 of more shade-enduring and longer-lived species, from which 

 aspen is permanently excluded." He names among the more im- 

 portant eastern seedlings which grow up in these temporary stands 

 the red and white spruce, beech, maple, balsam fir and white pine. 

 (For the relation of aspens to reforestation in the Southwest see 

 Pearson '14). From the standpoint also of the hunter such a cover 

 is a vast improvement on bare burned-over land. The relation of 

 birds to game, although the influence of the birds is not definitely 

 mentioned, is clearly shown by the fact, as Gaylord has shown, that 

 in the Adirondacks deer thrive best in open woods, such as may be 

 formed by lumbering, or in burns after vegetation has again become 

 established. He says ('15, p. 29) : " Out of the 50,000 acres im- 

 mediately under my supervision there are 14,000 burned over, and it 

 is here * * * that they [deer] are the most plentiful and in 

 the best condition — why ? — simply beecause the food supply is the 

 best and the most abundant, due to the numerous vines, grasses, and 

 bushes that grow in such places." 



We must therefore 'look upon the scattering of seeds by birds 

 and other wild animals as a method of reforestation done without 

 charge. This is a very- valuable service, which supplements the wind- 

 blown seeds of the aspens and birches. This scattering of tree 

 seeds by birds must therefore be considered as particularly import- 

 ant in wild lands, and the value of this will last until man is alert 

 and progressive enough to do the work better and more intelligently 

 or by hiring men to do it. There are thus excellent reasons why 

 fruit-eating birds should never be needlessly injured in wild lands 

 by foresters and hunters, especially where there is imperfect fire 

 protection, and where game is valued. The destruction of the 

 forest cover is harmful to the flow of streams, and directly to fish ; 

 conversely, reforestation is likewise beneficial to fish. In other words, 

 the birds benefit the fish as well as the game. Even at the present 

 rate of progress it will be a long time before the services of such 

 birds can be looked upon as superfluous or harmful, and all thev 

 have done up to the present time stands to their credit. It would 

 lie very interesting to estimate how much benefit of this kind in 

 dollars has been done by the birds of New York State, for the 

 forests, the hunter and the fisherman. Certainly the people of New 

 York have received many thousands of dollars in benefit from this 

 kind of work by birds. 



We are now in a position to see how it is that birds have so 

 much influence in changing the conditions in forests, because we 



