BIRDS AND FORESTS 



Those who are practically connected with the busi- 

 ness of forestry are keenly aware of the great good 

 to arboriculture done by the woodpeckers. As the 

 rooks, partridges, and starlings are the recognised 

 guardians of pasturage and cattle lands, so woodpeckers 

 are the custodians and caretakers of forest growth. 



If landowners, more particularly owners of woods, 

 only knew and considered the great value of wood- 

 peckers and their allies in continually cleansing their 

 trees and freeing them from all vermin, they would not 

 be satisfied until they had the feathered friends of 

 their trees adequately protected, as is now being 

 done in the United States. Wood, free from insects, 

 is practically indestructible. 



Birds are the most powerful insect destroyers we 

 have. In the best forests, and particularly those which 

 have been specially planted, there is very little natural 

 provision for the nesting of birds. This should be 

 provided in the shape of nesting boxes of kinds suited 

 to the needs of the species of birds which prey on tree- 

 destroying pests. Unless this is done, plantations 

 will continue to be ravaged owing to the limited number 

 of birds which will be able to make their homes there. 

 If suitable numbers of nesting boxes are affixed high 

 up on the trees in various parts of the plantation, the 

 birds will very soon find them out and utilise them. 



These measures have been employed with un- 

 qualified success in controlling the destructiveness of 

 insects in woods in certain parts of Europe and 

 America. The Hainich Wood, for instance, south of 

 Eisenach, in Germany, which is several miles in extent, 



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