10 Wyoming Experiment Station. 



sity die. Not so with many of the animals, however, which 

 soon work their way to the surface. Some of these attack 

 the growing plants which have been made to occupy the place 

 of those destroyed by the plow. Others take wing and seek 

 suitable food in adjoining districts where they add to the num- 

 bers already drawing upon the vegetation up to the point of 

 possible continued supply. Here, then, the scales begin to 

 vibrate. In the field the new and tender crop entices the ever- 

 shifting individuals of myriads of forms that have been 

 crowded out elsewhere. The result here too is, or would be, 

 very disastrous were it not for the timely visit of flocks of birds 

 likewise in search of food. 



"It is during the period of first settlement of a country, 

 when the fields are small, few and widely separated, that in- 

 jury may and frequently does result from birds. It is then 

 a problem that needs careful consideration, not only for the 

 time being, but also for the future welfare of that country. 

 If animal life is destroyed indiscriminately and without intel- 

 ligent forethought, calamities unforeseen are sure to follow 

 in the not distant future. 



"Birds can be useful to man in many ways. They can 

 benefit him by carrying the seeds of various plants from place 

 to place so as to assist him in establishing new groves in which 

 to find shelter from the cold in winter and refuge from the heat 

 of the noonday sun in summer. They plant various shrubs 

 by the wayside that spring up and later are laden with luscious 

 fruit. They also carry the spawn of fishes and small crus- 

 taceans among their feathers into new waters, and feed upon 

 the countless seeds of weeds that are scattered broadcast over 

 the face of the earth. Some kinds live almost exclusively upon 

 insects, while others hunt out the small rodents that would, 

 if left to themselves, destroy great quantities of grain and 

 other vegetation. Still other birds benefit mankind by acting 

 as scavengers in the removal of putrid and other offensive 

 matter which would endanger our health. In addition to all 



