10 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 
Nighthawk, Kingbird and Cowbird. If the fire-swept district had not been 
previously lumbered, or the fire had spread slowly, killing but not consuming, 
the myriads of bleached or blackened trunks attract numerous woodpeckers 
and their holes later furnish congenial homes for Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, 
House Wrens and Sparrow Hawks. Where the original timber was largely 
hardwood, indicating good soil, a thrifty second growth follows axe or fire 
and unless repeatedly fire-swept a new tangle of broad-leaved shrubs and 
trees is rapidly built up, where we find an abundant bird-life in which the 
Junco, Song Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Indigo Bird, Goldfinch, Catbird, 
Brown Thrasher, Yellow and Chestnut-sided, Maryland Yellowthroat and 
Mourning Warblers are added to the forms already mentioned. 
The deep woods, whether swamp or upland, never shelter the wealth of 
bird life found in partly cleared or well cultivated districts. Stream-borders, 
lake margins, or other openings in the forest always teem with bird and insect 
life, for here a greater variety of conditions is found and larger numbers of 
birds seek the sunlight and shade, food supply and shelter which insure, so 
far as wild nature can, the welfare of their young. 
RECENT CHANGES IN THE BIRD LIFE OF THE STATE. 
There is a general and probably a correct impression that birds as a whole 
are much less abundant in the eastern United States today than they were 
a half century ago, and this doubtless is as true in Michigan as elsewhere. It 
is further believed that such changes in Michigan have been specially marked 
because of the removal of so much timber in recent years. Unquestionably 
the deforesting of the northern parts of the Lower Peninsula has made 
noteworthy changes in the birds of the region and such changes are still in 
progress and doubtless will continue, since the axe is commonly followed by 
fire, and that again by more or less complete reforestation or by the cultivated 
fields of the farmer and fruit grower. Moreover the draining of many of 
our extensive swamps and marshes has altered in a marked degree the 
character of large portions of the state and has changed correspondingly 
the conditions under which the birds of these regions live. For example, 
when a dense pine forest is completely removed certain species formerly 
abundant in the woods disappear completely, some remain for a time, although 
in diminished numbers, and others seem to be but slightly affected or may 
even increase noticeably. At the same time a considerable number of new 
forms appear, species partial to open fields or bushy plains and never found 
in the dense forest. 
In attempting to recognize and explain the changes in bird population 
which have taken place during the last century, we are met at the outset by 
the lack of accurate knowledge as to the conditions at the beginning of that 
period. We know with more or less certainty what species could be found 
here and there in the wilderness, or about the cultivated areas of the pioneers; 
but even at the present day careful estimates of the number of individuals 
of any one species inhabiting a given area are not common and formerly 
such a census was rarely if ever attempted. Even at the present time the 
casual observer, or even the local observer whose experience has been limited 
to a small field, is certain to be deceived by appearances and is apt to believe 
that the yearly fluctuations in the number of birds observed indicate great 
increase or decrease in the total numbers in the entire country. No mistake 
is more common among people who are bird lovers but not bird students 
than the_belief that some particular spot with which they are familiar is 
