the Valve of Birds to Man. 105 



if they were deprived o£ the services of the bird is best seen 

 in what happened to Frederick the Great. This worthy, in 

 a fit of passion because a flock of Sparrows had pecked at 

 some of his cherries, ordered every small bird that could 

 be searched out to bo instantly killed. Within two years 

 his cherry-trees, thouoh bare of fruit, were weighed down 

 with a splendid crop of insects. 



The Services of the Bird in the Garden. 



The garden is the insect's paradise. It fares sumptuously 

 every day on the most succulent of vegetable foods. Every 

 opportunity is thus offered for its increase. The greatest 

 insect ejiemy of the gardener is a small, dull-coloured, 

 hairless caterpillar, known as the cut-worm, which is the 

 larva of a Noctuid moth. This chief of the brigand band of 

 garden pests usually hides during the day beneath matted 

 grass, or under the loose soil along the rows of plants. It 

 comes forth at dusk to feed. The bird is abroad at the first 

 peep of day, and it finds the robber-v/orm in the morning 

 before it has retreated to its place of concealment. 



The cut-worm, by the way, is the worm which is 

 associated with the early bird in the well-known proverb. 



But the bird has to come stealthily to the garden. Its 

 visits are regarded by man with more than suspicion, and it 

 is fortunate if it escapes with its life. In consequence, it 

 snaps up a caterpillar and is off again, leaving thousands 

 it would have eaten, if unmolested, to run riot among tho 

 vegetables. 



Occasionally a bird more bold than its fellows will visit 

 the garden in broad daylight to dig the cut-worms out of 

 their hiding-places. Nature never having begrudged it tho 

 reward of its toil, the bird takes a few peas before 

 leaving. 



The gardener notices the damage done to his peas, and 

 next morning is up betimes. He sees the early bird running 

 along a row of peas, stopping frequently to peck at some- 

 thing. There is a loud explosion, followed by a puff of 



