the Vahie of Birds to Man. 103 



I stated at the commencement of this paper that man had 

 attained to a predominance over the wild things of the earth. 

 I was wrong. Tigers man may be able to subjugate, but 

 against insects, which are even more dangerous to human 

 life and property than tigers, he is powerless. If, in his 

 folly, he drove out the bird, thinking himself capable of 

 taking its place, he might be able to make shift with his 

 sprays to save some portion at least of his orchards and 

 gardens ; but of what avail would be his puny efforts to 

 protect from the ravening maws of insects the forests of 

 South America and Africa, the jungle of Asia, or the bush 

 of Australia ? Should he not, then, protect by every means 

 in his power every one of the forest birds, who, as a matter 

 of course, and without trouble or expense to him, ordinarily 

 accomplish, on his behalf, this superhuman task? One 

 would think so. Yet in these very regions, in these vast 

 areas of valuable timber, every trunk of which man will 

 some day need, there are being killed annually millions of 

 the feathered guardians of the tree, and killed, too, for no 

 worthier purpose than that, dead, they may defame a 

 woman's head. 



The Value of the Bird in the Orchard. 



For man's purposes the work of the bird in the orchard is 

 not so thorough as that done by them in the forest. Birds 

 are the slaves of Nature, and, in the main, Nature's 

 endeavours are put forth only to produce such fruits as will 

 ensure the perpetuity of each species of tree. AVith man 

 the case is altogether different. His main object is not the 

 propagation of trees, but the production of a giant goose- 

 berry. Moreover, by introducing arsenical spraying, tarred 

 and greased bands, and other devices to counteract the evil 

 action of insects, ho has, to a certain extent, taken upon 

 himself the office of the bird. In this he is wise, for it must 

 be admitted that if he wishes a large crop of fruit he must 

 himself prevent the inroads of those insects which attack the 

 fruit directly. It cannot be expected of the bird that it will 



