A TRIBE OF WEED WARBIORS 203 



the seed and his stomach digests its kernel. So these 

 birds do not sotv the seeds they eat, but destroy them. 

 This is why I call them Weed Warriors. A warrior is 

 any one who goes to war, and lights against enemies ; 

 we have enemies among plants, and these birds fight 

 for us against them. There are hundreds of different 

 kinds of plants, whose flowers have no beauty, and for 

 which we have not as yet found any use ; so we call 

 them weeds. All such seeds would be blown about, 

 take root, and sprout everywhere, thus filling the place 

 of useful plants, if they were not held in check by these 

 seed-eating birds." 



" Isn't it wise the ways things are fixed ? " said Rap. 

 " Some birds to eat the insects and sow wild fruits 

 and berries ; some birds to eat Aveed seeds and prevent 

 them from being sown. I think some people would do 

 better if they didn't think themselves so smart and mix 

 things all up I " 



" You are right, my boy ! We should not interfere 

 with Heart of Nature by foolishly trying to aid him 

 unless we are perfectly sure that he wishes and needs 

 our help. 



" There is one member of this Finch family, the 

 European Sparrow, that we know by the name of 

 English SparroAV. In his native country he eats both 

 insects and seeds, and also does some good by eating 

 certain tree-worms. A number of years ago the trees 

 in our cities were being eaten by canker-worms, and 

 some one said — 'Let us bring over some of these 

 Sparrows to live in the cities and eat the canker- 

 worms.' This person meant well, but he did not know 

 enough about what he was doing. 



