10 OUR WINTER BIRDS 



This surprising record gives us some idea of what 

 Chickadee is doing for us. Mr. Forbush's Chicka- 

 dees, and the birds he attracted the following sum- 

 mer, actually saved his orchard for him. He tells 

 us that "the trees bore luxuriant foliage during the 

 entire summer and produced a good crop of fruit.'^ 

 His next neighbor's orchard was also protected by 

 the birds but "elsewhere in the town," he writes, 

 "most of the apple trees were defoliated and very 

 few produced any fruit that year. While the re- 

 sult secured in such an exceptional year seemed re- 

 markable, the experience of succeeding years has 

 demonstrated that it was not so. Year after year 

 we have kept our trees free from serious insect in- 

 jury, without spraying or otherwise protecting the 

 foliage, merely by a little effort and expenditure to 

 attract the birds and furnish them safe homes." 



WHY WE SHOULD KNOW THE BIRDS 



Here, then, are three excellent reasons why we 

 should all make friends with the birds in winter. 

 First, because winter is the only season when birds 

 may actually need our bounty. It is not the cold 

 from which they suffer. In their warm, feathered 

 suits they are probably just as comfortable out of 

 doors as we are at our firesides. It is when pro- 

 longed storms prevent them from venturing forth to 



