10 



THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



Photo by Orpheus M. Schantz 



HAWTHORNS IN THE PORTAGE TRACT OF THE 

 FOREST PRESERVE 



Hawthorns as Bird Sanctuaries 



No tree family of 

 the northeastern 



United States is more 

 interesting, and at the 

 same time more con- 

 fusing- to botanists 

 than the many species 

 of hawthorn. By rea- 

 son of its varied 

 forms of foliage, 

 fruits, and growth its 

 presence is always a 

 picturesque addition 

 to the landscape. 



Extremely hardy, 

 tolerant of many soils, 

 it survives under con- 

 ditions that are fatal 

 to less hardy trees. 

 Because of the fondness of cattle for the leaves and tender twigs 

 the young hawthorns in pasture lands have a hard time growing 

 up as they should. The continuous browsing forces them to thick- 

 en into dense masses of twigs and thorns. These "behives" event- 

 ually widen out at their bases so that cattle can no longer reach 

 the tops, then a leader or perhaps several leaders shoot up and 

 soon form a symmetrical top changing the beehive into the hour 

 glass or sheaf form. The trees then begin to blossom and fruit. In 

 the region around Chicago there are many hawthorn orchards 

 sometimes containing a number of species. When the trees have 

 not been molested in their youth by cattle, they form the typical 

 broad-topped, sturdy tree that is characteristic of the larger 

 members of this interesting group. Where they have been re- 

 tarded in their growth by cattle, the dense masses of interlaced 

 branches with their abundant thorns are ideal nesting sites for 

 Catbirds, Sparrows and Thrashers. During the summer time the 

 dense foliage completely hides the nests from view, but after the 

 leaves fall a visit to a hawthorn orchard or thicket reveals a re- 

 markable number of nests proving conclusively their value to the 

 birds. The botanical name for the family — Crataegus — comes 

 from a Greek word, kratos, meaning strength ; the English name 

 from the Anglo-Saxon haegthorn, meaning hedgethorn. There 

 have been almost or quite one thousand variations discovered by 

 botanists among the hawthorns, a very great number of which 

 are hybrids and not distinct varieties. There are a few members 

 of the family in other portions of the temperate world, but east- 

 ern North America is its typical home. The region about Chica- 

 go apparently is ideal for its growth and development, as it is 

 found in profusion in all our woodlands, sometimes forming or- 

 chards of mature trees, in other localities it is the dominant 



