October 



nature they are an indispensable factor for the 

 welfare of vegetation, and scavengers of the 

 most unique and picturesque sort. Not only 

 have the song-birds thus risen above the plane 

 of mere ornament and entertainment, but even 

 the hawks, which as a class have hitherto been 

 regarded as having perhaps the most unjustifiable 

 existence of all the feathered race, have recently, 

 by a systematic and thorough process of investi- 

 gation, been shown to be the victims of an ill- 

 founded prejudice. And in the end, upon the 

 theory which is every year receiving fresh con- 

 firmation, that everything in nature has its use, 

 it will doubtless be found that crows, black- 

 birds, cedar-birds, and the like, which at cer- 

 tain seasons of the year are so annoying to the 

 farmer and the fruit-grower, are yet affording 

 ample atonement in some as yet undiscovered 

 way. The place occupied by the birds in nat- 

 ure's organism is thus of much greater dignity 

 and importance than was formerly supposed, 

 and it is pertinent to remind the bird-student of 

 these facts, which cannot fail to enhance his 

 previous admiration of the creatures. 



The variety of service rendered to nature and 

 to man by some of the most familiar of the 

 bird-families, is well expressed by Mr. Samuels 



283 



