182 



tary lines, the work of the regiment will be industrial, not com- 

 batant. It will operate in the woods behind the armies, getting 

 out timbers, ties and lumber required for military purposes. 



The recruiting of the regiment which has already been asked 

 for is being pushed by the Forest, Service and was reported last 

 month to be advancing rapidly. The listing officers for this 

 regiment are as follows : Forest Supervisors Seitz, Erickson, 

 Hastings and Evans, of Oregon ; Smith, Fromme, Park and 

 Sylvester, of Washington. 



Applicants must be white, between the ages of 18 and 40, 

 and must pass the regular army physical examination. Men 

 subject to conscription will discharge their obligations by en- 

 listing in this regiment. 



WHAT THE BIRDS DO FOR US. 



Birds interest and cheer us by their action, song and beauty, 

 also they are useful to us in many ways. All animals, includ- 

 ing birds, live on what they eat. Birds are so strong and swift 

 and live so fast that they have to eat much more than we. A 

 school teacher undertook to care for and feed a tiny young bird, 

 a little vireo. She fed it 100 grasshoppers in a day. It ate 

 them all, although the legs of the last one stuck out of the little 

 bird's mouth at sunset. Birds love to eat insects such as bugs, 

 caterpillars, moths and beetles. 



Insects if not kept in check by the birds and other enemies 

 would increase so fast that they would soon eat every green 

 thing on earth and leave us to starve. Sometimes a single insect 

 lays hundreds of eggs at one time, and in some cases a single 

 pair of insects might produce thousands, or even millions more 

 insects in a year, if they and their eggs were not eaten by birds 

 or destroyed in other ways. Birds spend a large .part of their 

 time hunting and killing such insects and their eggs. They eat 

 untold millions of these creatures. In this way they tend to 

 save for our use the vegetables in the garden, the grain in the 

 fields, from which meal and flour are made, and the fruit on the 

 trees, all of which we must have to live and thrive. 



Also birds such as sparrows and quail eat the seeds of weeds, 

 and so prevent weeds from growing ; other birds, such as hawks, 

 owls and herons kill and eat rats and mice, especially the mice of 

 the fields and woods, which if not so killed ofif and kept down 

 would increase so fast that they, like the insects, would soon eat 

 up every green thing. 



Many birds are scavengers, destroying foul, offensive and de- 

 caying things. Others eat flies and mosquitoes, which plague 

 us and carry disease. 



