CITIZEN BIRD 55 



" No, Dodo," laughed the Doctor ; " Avhen pigs are 

 shut up they eat a great many dirty things, but 

 naturally they prefer clean food like other cattle — 

 corn, acorns, apples, and so forth. Besides, those 

 'nasty things,' as you call them, turn into pork before 

 they are put in sausages, for pigs know how to make 

 pork. So you see that all the food of the animals 

 whose flesh we eat comes out of the ground ; and that is 

 what the Bible means where it says, 'All flesh is grass.' 

 But what other things are there that grow up out 

 of the eartli, tall and strong, each one holding a beauti- 

 ful green screen to keep the sun from drawing all tlie 

 moisture from the ground and making it too dry ; 

 shading the rivers that their waters may not waste 

 away ; some making cool bowers for House People to 

 sit under, others bearing delicious fruits for them to 

 eat, and all in good time yielding their bodies to make 

 fires and give out heat to warm us ? " 



" Trees ! Yes, trees of course," cried the children 

 eagerly; " all kinds of trees, for trees grow apples and 

 pears and plums and clierries and chestnuts and fire- 

 wood too." 



"Now what is there that preys upon all this vege- 

 table life — upon every plant, from the grass to the 

 tree, destroying them all equally ? " 



"Bugs and w^orms and all kinds of crawlers and 

 flyers and hoppers," said Rap. 



" Yes, every plant has an insect enemy which feeds 

 upon its life juices. So a set of animals has been de- 

 veloped by Heart of Nature to hold the plant destroyers 

 in check, and these animals are the birds. 



" Man may do all he can to protect his gardens, his 



