Bird Lovers as Landlords 193 



not what the birds require, and that they would 

 not even appear to be suitable if we knew a little 

 more about the real tastes and preferences of 

 birds. Perhaps no other man has given so much 

 good thought to this subject as Baron Hans von 

 Berlepsch, whose estate, "Seebach" near Essen, 

 Germany, has become world-famous as a para- 

 dise for birds. As a result of the study he has 

 given to the likes and dislikes of his feathered 

 guests in the matter of nesting sites, he has a 

 thousand birds nesting on the twelve or thirteen 

 acres immediately surrounding his castle, every 

 year, and thousands more in the woods beyond. 

 And it has paid him to study the comfort of his 

 guests, for they have become a power for good. 

 When an insect plague swept over that section 

 of the country some years ago, "Seebach" was 

 the one green spot left on the face of the land- 

 scape ; it stood out like an oasis in a desert. And 

 all because a thousand birds, with perhaps two 

 thousand hungry babies to feed, showed that 

 insect destroyers of vegetation can be made to 

 serve a very useful purpose. 



The birds which suffer most perhaps from lack 

 of nesting sites are those which naturally nest 

 in holes in trees. We have brought about whole- 

 sale destruction of our forests, and even in our 

 gardens, orchards, and farms we have made 

 13 



