one would punish all boys in school because one bad boy did wrong. No one 

 would shoot all dogs, because one dog in the neighborhood killed sheep. But to 

 punish good and bad boys alike, or to kill good and bad dogs alike, is no more 

 foolish or wrong than to shoot good and bad hawks and owls indiscriminately. 

 The rare offender should be destroyed but the great majority of beneficial birds 

 of prey should be protected lest we bring on a scourge of destructive rodents. 



If space permitted, I might show how woodpeckers are also too generally 

 misunderstood. With their chisel-like beaks and their extensible, barbed, homy 

 tipped tongues, they expose, spear and extract numberless destructive grubs and 

 borers in forest and fruit trees. Only the saj) siii-kcr does notable injury and 

 that very rarely in Illinois. 



Woodpeckers, robins and many other valuable birds are frequently charged 

 with serious destruction to cherries and other small fruits. I am convinced that 

 where such occasionally occurs, it is pretty largely our own fault. I have a tree 

 of black mulberries in my yard ripening when my cherries are mature. Birds 

 are numerous about the place, and while on this town lot we usually pick from 

 100 to 200 gallons of early Richmond cherries, we do not lose one per cent of 

 the crop to the birds. But while the ripening cherries are hanging near by and 

 scarcely a bird may be seen in the cherry trees, the mulberry tree is swarming with 

 many species of birds and a few squirrels literally fiilling themselves upon the more 

 desirable mulberries. The planting of a few mulberries or wild fruits for the 

 birds to feast upon will usually save the cultivated fruits from injury by birds. 



All the birds in Illinois are protected by law with the exception of the English 

 sparrow, sharp-shinned hawk. Cooper's hawk, great horned owl. crow blackbird, 

 crow, bluejay and sap sucker. Boys and girls especially should see to it that the 

 others are protected and encouraged. Bird nests, especially, should not be 

 molested, and everybody should make nesting places for the wrens at least. Bad 

 English sparrows get into "Jenny Wren's" nest while she is out eating insects, 

 and when she returns she does not have a fair show to fight the intruder and 

 run him out. You can make a nest which "Jenny Wren" will like very much 

 and into which the sparrow cannot go. This may be done as follows : Take an 

 old tomato can or corn can and lay a quarter of a dollar down on the end which 

 was not cut open. With pencil, mark around close to the quarter. Now with a 

 pocket knife, cut on this mark until the piece the size of a quarter is almost cut 

 out. Bend this piece down for a lighting board. Now nail the opposite end of 

 this can firmly under the eaves of a house, barn, or outbuilding, or on a tree or 

 post high enough that robber cats cannot disturb and you have a most excellent 

 wren house. Nail up a half dozen such cans, some in the shade and some in the 

 sun, for "Jenny Wren" seems "fickle" in her choice of a nest. Once having 

 obtained a pair of these fine little birds, they will return to you year after year. 

 It will give you a great deal of pleasure to observe the interesting habits of 

 wrens, and to hear their sweet songs, particularly when you think that these 

 songs are made out of the destructive caterpillars which "Jenny Wren" obtains 

 from the gardens, orchards and fields. 



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