value of the birds, and are encouraged to study their habits, the desire to shoot 
them or to rob them of their eggs will be very materially lessened. It is a com- 
mon practice for some farmers to burn their land over in the Spring, usually about 
nesting time. Three years ago, and as far back of that as I can remember, a small 
ravine or valley was teeming with bird life; it was the most favored spot that 1 
know of, for the variety and numbers of its bird tenants. Last year, towards the 
end of May, this place was deliberately burned over by the owner. Twenty-seven 
nests that I know of, some with young, others with eggs, and still others in the 
process of construction, were destroyed, besides hundreds of others that I had 
never seen. This year the same thing was done earlier in the season, and not a 
bird nested here, and, late in Summer only a few clumps of ferns have found 
courage to appear above the blackened ground. Farmers also cut off a great many 
patches of underbrush that might just as well have been left, thus, for lack of 
suitable places for their homes, driving away some of their most valuable assist- 
ants. The cutting off of woods and forests is an important factor in the decrease 
of bird life, as well as upon the climate of the ceuntry. 
Our winter birds have their hardships when snow covers the weed tops, and 
a coating of ice covers the trees, so that they can neither get seeds nor grubs. 
During the nesting season, we often have long-continued rains which sometimes 
cause an enormous loss of life to insect-eating birds and their young. In 1903, 
after a few weeks’ steady rain and damp weather, not a Purple Martin could be 
found in Worcester County, nor, as far as I know, in New England; they were 
8 
