NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



batrachians ; but their arch-enemy — the foe which keeps 

 them in check — is our feathered ally, the bird. Destroy 

 the birds, and all the other foes of insects could not 

 prevent them from carrying all before them by sheer 

 force of numbers. 



Why are birds indispensable allies in our desperate 

 efforts to stem the advance of the insect Hun ? 

 Because the food of the vast majority consists of 

 insects. The seed-eating species, with but few excep- 

 tions, feed their young solely on an insect diet. 



Is it then a matter for wonder that outraged Nature 

 scourges us so severely ? We deserve it, surely. 

 There are sins of omission and commission; both are 

 equally far-reaching in their results. 



We are hypnotised by the belief that it is necessary 

 to have our children's minds filled with what might be 

 termed " the ballast of the ages." There is often no 

 time left in the child's life, or no desire on the part 

 of the parents, to have it taught those things which 

 are necessary to enable it to develop into a useful 

 and progressive citizen of the State, and to pilot its 

 way through life with the minimum of mishaps and 

 disasters. To study Nature is to study the works of 

 God. It is eminently practical in every sense of the 

 word, and is also a powerful factor in the awakening 

 of the moral and spiritual nature of man. 



Why have so many of the human race degenerated 

 into mere money-making machines, with intervals of 

 leisure for the gratification of their animal passions 

 and desires ? Chiefly because their minds have 

 never been awakened to a realisation of the fairy- 



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