﻿BIRDS 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  5 
  1 
  

  

  not 
  be 
  true 
  of 
  the 
  Red-winged 
  blackbird, 
  Crow 
  blackbird, 
  the 
  woodpeckers 
  

   and 
  many 
  others, 
  but 
  the 
  accounts 
  given 
  by 
  early 
  writers 
  of 
  the 
  tremendous 
  

   multitudes 
  of 
  "maize 
  thieves," 
  as 
  the 
  blackbirds 
  were 
  called, 
  create 
  a 
  

   greater 
  impression 
  because 
  the 
  birds 
  were 
  concentrated 
  about 
  the 
  few 
  

   plantations, 
  whereas 
  now 
  they 
  are 
  scattered 
  over 
  thousands 
  of 
  square 
  

   miles 
  which 
  formerly 
  were 
  covered 
  with 
  forests. 
  , 
  

  

  The 
  general 
  law 
  of 
  variation 
  in 
  abundance 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  as 
  follows. 
  Birds 
  

   which 
  prefer 
  the 
  open 
  country 
  begin 
  to 
  increase 
  as 
  the 
  forests 
  are 
  cut 
  off, 
  

   and 
  many 
  which 
  live 
  in 
  the 
  forests 
  themselves 
  increase 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  the 
  

   clearings 
  are 
  few 
  and 
  scattered. 
  As 
  the 
  cultivation 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  pro- 
  

   gresses 
  and 
  a 
  large 
  percentage 
  of 
  the 
  forests 
  has 
  been 
  cut 
  off, 
  the 
  hawks, 
  

   owls, 
  grouse, 
  jays, 
  Pileated 
  and 
  Hairy 
  woodpeckers, 
  tanagers 
  and 
  many 
  

   wbod-warblers 
  and 
  thrushes 
  decrease 
  in 
  nimiber. 
  When 
  the 
  swamps 
  are 
  

   drained 
  there 
  are 
  fewer 
  nesting 
  places 
  for 
  snipe, 
  rails, 
  bitterns 
  and 
  Marsh 
  

   wrens. 
  As 
  the 
  pasture 
  and 
  meadow 
  lands 
  increase 
  in 
  area, 
  birds 
  like 
  the 
  

   Bobolink, 
  Meadowlark, 
  Vesper 
  sparrow, 
  Killdeer 
  and 
  Bartramian 
  sand- 
  

   piper 
  find 
  favorable 
  nesting 
  places 
  and 
  increase. 
  

  

  But 
  as 
  the 
  modern 
  style 
  of 
  agriculture 
  develops, 
  new 
  dangers 
  arise 
  to^ 
  

   threaten 
  the 
  field 
  birds. 
  Late 
  plowing 
  and 
  extensive 
  cultivating 
  and 
  

   early 
  mowing 
  destroy 
  great 
  numbers 
  of 
  eggs 
  and 
  young 
  birds. 
  A 
  high 
  

   stage 
  of 
  agriculture 
  is 
  likewise 
  accompanied 
  with 
  danger 
  from 
  the 
  spraying 
  

   of 
  fruit 
  trees 
  and 
  potato 
  plants, 
  as 
  birds 
  are 
  often 
  killed 
  by 
  eating 
  cater- 
  

   pillars 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  poisoned. 
  The 
  cutting 
  of 
  all 
  dead 
  limbs 
  and 
  trees 
  

   also 
  destroys 
  the 
  nesting 
  sites 
  of 
  flickers. 
  Downy 
  and 
  Red-headed 
  wood- 
  

   peckers, 
  chickadees, 
  wrens 
  and 
  bluebirds. 
  On 
  many 
  well 
  kept 
  farms, 
  

   also, 
  the 
  barns 
  are 
  so 
  tightl}- 
  closed 
  that 
  swallows 
  are 
  unable 
  to 
  gain 
  entrance. 
  

   Thus 
  in 
  inany 
  ways 
  the 
  increase 
  of 
  native 
  birds 
  is 
  discouraged, 
  unless 
  arti- 
  

   ficial 
  means 
  is 
  taken 
  to 
  counteract 
  the 
  evil 
  by 
  such 
  methods 
  as 
  erecting 
  

   boxes 
  and 
  woodpecker 
  stubs, 
  cutting 
  swallow-holes 
  in 
  the 
  barn, 
  cultivating 
  

   and 
  plowing 
  around 
  the 
  nests, 
  and 
  watching 
  out 
  for 
  the 
  young 
  birds 
  when 
  

   mowing. 
  

  

  In 
  thickly 
  settled 
  districts 
  the 
  danger 
  to 
  many 
  species 
  is 
  further 
  increased 
  

   by 
  the 
  abundance 
  of 
  telegraph 
  and 
  telephone 
  wires, 
  electric 
  lights, 
  plate- 
  

  

  