54 GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS 
forests, there would be no trees for firewood, and also the 
lack of shade would make the sources of our rivers dry up 
and we should soon suffer for water. 
‘“‘Girls and boys might never think of this, but the Wise 
Men who live in Washington, and form the association 
known as the Biological Survey, as well as those of the 
Departments of Agriculture in each state, thought of this 
long ago. 
‘““They have worked hard and proved the truth of this 
whole matter, and now know exactly upon what each 
kind of bird feeds; and laws are everywhere being made 
to protect the useful birds from people who are either so 
stupid or so vicious that they think a bird is something 
to be shot or stoned, and that the robbing of nests of eggs 
is a clever thing to do. 
‘“‘ Any child who stops to think must realize one thing: 
As almost all birds live on animal food during the nesting 
season, and feed their young with it, and many kinds eat 
it all the year, it follows that the more birds we have the 
fewer bugs there will be. 
‘Also those birds who feed on seeds and wild fruits 
destroy in the winter season quantities of weed seeds that 
would spring up and choke the crops, while they sow the 
seeds of wild fruits and berries, because the pits in these 
seeds, being hard, are dropped undigested. . 
“« But,’ says some one, ‘the Robins and Catbirds came 
in our garden and bit the ripe side of the strawberries 
and cherries that father was growing for market, and we 
had to shoot them to make them stay away.’ 
“This is all true: some birds will steal a few berries, 
but for this mischief they do good all the rest of the long 
