6 OUR WINTER BIRDS 



active allies in the warfare to save our crops and 

 forests from the army of insects that ceaselessly at- 

 tack them. 



The Tree Sparrows breakfasting on seeds, the 

 Nuthatch hunting insects^ eggs, the Woodpeckers 

 digging out grubs, were all working for us. The 

 Chickadees that accept our invitation to luncheon 

 repay us a countless number of times for the suet 

 and nuts we offer them. 



Every one knows that Insects are harmful to vege- 

 tation and that birds are their chief enemies; but 

 who knows that the seed-eating birds are also of 

 great value to us? 



If you have ever had a garden to care for it is 

 not necessary to tell you how constantly you have 

 to fight the weeds to prevent them from over-grow- 

 ing the flowers or vegetables that you have planted. 



There are ragweed and purslane, crab-grass and 

 pigweed, and many others. Hoe and rake as you 

 will, you never can get rid of them. Just as soon 

 as you retire from the field, they seem to take pos- 

 session of it. In the garden, in the potato-field, in 

 the stubble, the crop of weed-seeds never fails. Who 

 harvests It? Why, our friends the Sparrows. The 

 seeds of the plants that cause so much trouble are 

 their chief food in winter. Birds are known to eat 

 the seeds of over one hundred different kinds of 



