94 



USEFUL BIRDS. 



One day I noticed a young pine growing some ten feet 

 from the ground in the fork of a maple by the roadside. 

 There Avere no other pines near. What planted it there? 

 This was merely an illustration of the fact that tree seeds 

 are furnished with transportation by the wings or legs of 

 animals that feed upon them. 



The Jays alight in the tree top ; each Jay breaks off an 

 acorn with his feet, hammers it open with his beak, and eats 

 the kernel on the spot, or carries it off to some hiding place, 



Fig. 31. — A forest planter. The Blue Jay lends wings to the acorn. 



sometimes dropping it from the tree or while flying, appar- 

 ently by accident or for no purpose except perhaps to hear it 

 strike the earth. A sudden fright will cause a bird to drop 

 whatever food it may be carrying. Such acorns are usually 

 left where they happen to fall. 



We cannot study the relations of birds to the forest with- 

 out noting also the important part that squirrels take in tree 

 planting. In the autumn of 1897 the mast crop was light in 

 some sections of eastern Massachusetts, but here and there 

 an oak tree was found which bore a good crop. Such trees 

 were soon discovered by the Jays and squirrels, several of 

 which might be seen gathering the acorns from each tree. 

 The ground squirrels work in pairs, as do the squirrels of 



