BIRDS AND FORESTS 



of the hard, black seed of this wattle tree. In eating 

 it the bird usually swallows the seed as well, and this 

 passes unchanged through its intestines, and is voided. 

 These starlings spread themselves in flocks over the 

 veld and hill-sides in search of grasshoppers, leaf and 

 root destroying insects, with the result that the acacia 

 trees are springing into existence in the most unexpected 

 places. If, for instance, the trees were allowed to grow 

 unchecked for a few centuries a mighty forest would 

 be the result. The local forester was puzzled to 

 account for the presence of wattles which sprang up 

 and flourished along the wire fences. The wattled 

 starlings perch in thousands on these fences and void 

 the seeds. Wherever these starlings are in the habit 

 of congregating, masses of trees soon come into 

 existence. 



A tree establishes itself perhaps owing to a seed 

 which has passed through or been cast up from the 

 crop of some fruit-eating bird. It grows to maturity, 

 sheds its seeds, and its children grow up around it. 

 Birds feed upon the berries or fruit, and drop the 

 seed wider afield. Scores of isolated clumps of trees 

 come into being. The sowing of the seed by birds, 

 wind, and animals proceeds, and a great forest is the 

 ultimate result. 



Our feathered guardians of the forest perform their 

 duties well and faithfully. The woodpecker is Nature's 

 policeman of the tree trunks and branches. Insects 

 attack a tree and enter it ; fungi follow, and decay 

 sets in. The woodpecker attacks the dead or dying 

 wood and clears it out as neatly as a surgeon removes a 



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