166 The Ottawa Naturalist. [Mar. 



The greatest exponent of the practice of bird protection 

 is undoubtedly Baron von Berlej sen, and to him we are indebted 

 for the splendid example he has given at. Seebach in Germany. 

 His ideas have been adopted by various states in Germany and 

 in the countries where the protection of birds and the provision 

 of nesting boxes constitute an important and necessary adjunct 

 of forestry methods. An instance, given by Baron von Berlepsch, 

 of the practical value of bird encouragement may be quoted. 

 The Hainich wood, south of Eisenach, which covers several 

 square miles, was stripped entirely bare in the spring of 1905 

 by the caterpillars of the Oak Leaf-roller Moth(Tortrix viridiana). 

 The wood of Baron von Berlepsch, in which there had long been 

 nesting boxes, of which there are now more than 2,000, was un- 

 touched. It actually stood out among the remaining woods like 

 a green oasis. At a distance of a little more than a quarter of 

 a mile farther, the first traces of the plague were apparent, and 

 at the same distance farther on still it was in full force. It 

 was plain proof of the distance the tits and their companions 

 had gone during the winter and after their breeding time. Similiar 

 observations were made during a plague of the same insect 

 (Tortrix viridiana) in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, where the pro- 

 tection of birds has been carried on in a sensible and energetic 

 fashion for over ten years. Of 9,300 boxes hung up by the 

 Government in the State and Communal woods of the Grand 

 Duchy of Hesse, 70 to 80 per cent, were occupied in the first year 

 andin 1907 all were inhabited. On and near Baron von Berlepsch's 

 Seebach estate, 90 per cent, of 2 ,000 nest boxes in one wood were 

 occupied, and nearly all of 500 and 2,100 in other localities. 

 In Hungary similar measures are taken largely owing to the 

 admirable work of Otto Hermann, one of the foremost European 

 advocates of bird protection. 



Some years ago when investigating the depredations of the 

 Larch Sawfly (Nemains erichsonii) in the English Lake district I 

 was impressed with the value of birds as natural means of con- 

 trol, and as birds in the worst infested district, namely Thirlmere, 

 were not so abundant as they should have been, it was recom- 

 mended that they should be protected and encouraged by means 

 of nesting boxes. The corporation of the city of Manchester owns 

 Thirlmere, this lake being their water supply, and they distril >uted 

 nesting boxes of the pattern which I devised and which is illus- 

 trated herewith. (Fig. 1). The advantage of this box was that 

 it could be made out of the slabs or rejected outer 

 portions of the lumber bearing the bark. Three equal 

 lengths of the slab are nailed together to form three 

 sides of a long box, the outside of which, bearing the bark. 



