SERVICE OF BIRDS IN THE ORCHARD. 149 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE ECONOMIC SERVICE OF BIRDS IN THE ORCHARD. 



The conditions in the orchard regarding bird life approx- 

 imate those in the woods. The trees offer some shelter to 

 birds, and also nesting places secure from such of their 

 enemies as cannot climb or fly. The cutting over of wood 

 lots destroj'S the breeding places of such birds as nest in 

 hollow trees. Apple trees, on the other hand, are allowed 

 to stand for a century or more if they still bear profitable 

 fruit crops. jNIany orchard trees are much decayed, as a 

 result of neglect or bad })runing, and the dead and hollow 

 trunks furnish homes to such birds as once bred in the decay- 

 ing trees of the woods. The trees in the orchard also })rovide 

 an abundance of insect food. They are usually planted in 

 or near fields or gardens, where many species of insects find 

 food and shelter. For these reasons, orchards are much 

 frequented l)y birds. The service rendered by birds in pro- 

 tecting the orchard is not, however, as effectual for man's 

 pm-poses as that given by them to the woodland ; for birds 

 are the servants of nature, and in planting and cultivating 

 the orchard man sets nature at defiance. His object here is 

 not the mere growing of trees, but rather the production of 

 an improved variety of fruit. Nature's eflforts, on the other 

 hand, are put forth mainly to produce such fruit as will 

 make for the production and distribution of good seed that 

 will insure the propagation of the tree. The fruit grown by 

 nature is often considered by man as unfit for food. He 

 wants fruit suited to his tastes. The seed is of little value to 

 him, for he does not often use it, but propagates the tree of 

 his choice by grafting or budding. 



The production of a vastly increased quantity of fruit, of a 

 better quality than the natural product, oflers an increased 

 food supply for the creatures that feed upon that fruit. So 

 the planting of large fruit-bearing orchards gives the insects 



