BIRDS IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURE 175 
The bird census conducted by the United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture for the years 1914 and 1915 showed 
that on the farms of the northeastern States there was about 
one pair of birds to the acre, which is much less than it would 
be if the birds were given proper protection and encourage- 
ment. For example, it was found in 1915 that where the 
birds were protected on a farm of 40 acres near Middletown, 
Conn., containing 10 acres of ploughed land, 3 acres of wood- 
land, 5 acres of pasture, 12 acres of orchard, and 20 acres 
of meadow, this farm had a bird population of 165 pairs of 
native birds, 8 pairs of house-sparrows, and 15 pairs of star- 
lings, making a total of 188 pairs of breeding birds, or more 
than four times the average. 
Mr. W. E. Saunders has given an excellent example of 
the result of protecting and encouraging birds. The owner 
of about three-quarters of an acre of land surrounding a 
summer cottage in the Rideau Lakes, Ontario, decided to 
encourage the birds. When the experiment was com- 
menced there were five pairs of breeding birds in this area. 
In five years, by the provision of nesting-boxes and the 
elimination of cats, the bird population had increased to 
thirty-three pairs of breeding birds. In seventeen bird- 
boxes he had fifteen pairs of tree swallows, as well as two 
pairs of each of five other species, and one pair of each of 
_ five others near by. 
The conclusion reached from the United States bird census 
was that the birds are too few on the farms, and that they 
may be largely increased by protection and a little care in 
furnishing natural food and shelter. Such bird populations 
as 70 pairs of native birds of 31 species in 8 acres, at Olney, 
Ill.; 135 pairs of 24 species on 5 acres, at Wild Acre, Md.; 
193 pairs of 62 species on 44 acres, at Indianapolis, Ind.; 
and 189 pairs of 40 species, on 23 acres at Chevy Chase, 
Md., a half acre of which showed 20 pairs of 14 different 
species, all indicate how readily birds will respond to food, 
shelter, and protection. 
