178 HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. 



Their bills are long and sharp for chiseling through 

 bark and decayed wood. The muscles of the neck are 

 strong, enabling them to make rapid and powerful 

 strokes, while the lengthened tongue is provided with 

 barbs for pulling out the hidden insects. A pair of 

 woodpeckers will eat in a season thousands of insects, 

 and will destroy the eggs and larvae of more imbedded 

 in the bark, which, if left, Avould produce millions to 

 prey upon the life of the trees. 



Many orchards of small fruits, such as cherries, 

 plums, quinces and pears, have been entirely destroyed 

 simply through the misguided farmers, who, mistaking 

 their valuable services for injuries, killed these wood- 

 peckers as fast as they appeared. Iso wonder that 

 forests decay, and fruit trees become valueless, when 

 their friends and protectors are killed that their enemies 

 may live and flourish. 



The golden-winged, the most beautiful as it is one of 

 the most useful of this class, has been so persecuted by 

 the collectors, that the number is becoming very small, 

 with a prospect of an early extinction. 



Clearing the leaves of fruit and shade trees, of 

 insects' eggs and larvae is largely performed by the 

 active and ever-busy wrens and sweet-voiced vireos ; 

 while the creepers and warblers perform the same office 

 to the trees in the deeper forests. 



The cuckoos and orioles are invaluable in ridding the 

 foliage of canker worms, and if they were allowed to 

 live and multiply, as they naturally would, we should 

 not be troubled with the unsightly worms' nests that 



