INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS. 189 



genius of tlie Russian commander, in making this apparently bold and 

 rash movement, had not, to use a stale proverb, *' reckoned without its 

 host," and the handful of patriots, whose valour will shine on the page 

 of modern history inferior in lustre to none of the deeds of antiquity, 

 were about to be annihilated, and the capital of Poland, attacked on its 

 weak side, again to succumb to the power of the Northern Despot. 



INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS, 



" The wise are happy nature to explore." — Pope. 



It is impossible, if we look around us in our walks through gardens, 

 orchards, fields, or woods, not to be struck by the melody, the economy, 

 the various action, and particularly the services of our summer warblers 

 belonging to the genus sylvia. It seems to be a law of nature extending 

 through all animated creation, that wherever there is a tendency of any 

 particular tribe, or family, which, by predominance, threatens the extinc- 

 tion of any other, there is always a counteracting provision co-existing 

 to avert the destruction. Our choicest cereals, fodders, fruits, and 

 flowers, are destined to be the prey of innumerable insects. These are 

 hatched from eggs laid in the soil, or on their favorite plants in the 

 previous summer or autumn, and come forth at the same time with the 

 bursting buds of spring, on the very core of which many of their larva 

 feed. The ravages of these insects would soon blight the hopes of the year, 

 were it not that at the instant of their most fatal attack, flocks of summer 

 visitants arrive on our southern shores, and dispersing themselves over 

 all the land, into every garden and leafy grove, pry into each twisted 

 leaf and wounded bud to draw forth the tiny depredator, and save the 

 yet incipient embryo fruit. 



Although the insect tribes far outnumber their natural enemies, 

 especially in some localities and seasons ; yet when it is considered that 

 nearly the whole business of these little birds, from their arrival in 

 the spring till their departure in autumn, is the destruction of larvae of 

 beetles, moths, butterflies, and other winged and wingless insects, an 

 incalculable multitude must be devoured, especially when we take into 

 account the extra demands of the young broods which are soon taught to 

 find their own food. Nor is it only the individual caterpillars that are 

 thus destroyed ; their progeny through endless generations are also 

 extinguished. 



Thus are these mischievous tribes of insects kept within bounds through 

 the instrumentality of one of the most agreeable and interesting families 

 of the feathered race ; and which, notwithstanding their usefulness, are 

 neglected, despised, and persecuted, even to the death ! Because they 

 eat a few currants or raspberries — or pick a hole in a pear or apple, they 

 are execrated by those ignorant of their usefulness to man — their nests 

 are wantonly destroyed by thoughtless boys, who are even rewarded for 

 this inconsiderate spoliation ! Most sincerely would I plead the cause 

 of these melodious and beautiful benefactors of the orchardist and 

 farmer ; and hope when their real worth is known, that they may receive 

 a share of that regard which is so often and humanely bestowed on the 

 robin and the wren. 



