CONCLUDING REMARKS. 99 



danger of starvation, during the famine winter months 

 every nook and cranny would be searched for the lurk- 

 ing beetle, the hidden chrysalis, and the tiny egg. The 

 fissured bark of trees would be probed, and the caitiffs 

 within drawn from their resting-places with the bill. 

 While some birds would remain in the city, amidst the 

 scenes of past associations and pleasures, the greater part 

 would doubtless find their way into the country, where 

 seeds and insects are more plentiful. The happy results 

 of this manner of treatment, both in the city and in the 

 country, would be very apparent, on the return of the 

 budding season, in the paucity of injurious insects. 

 Besides, the habit of self-maintenance thus formed 

 would continue to strengthen, and thousands of insects, 

 during the seasons when these creatures run riot, would 

 disappear before their voracious appetites. As an oft- 

 set to this, it might be argued that this species is mainly 

 granivorous, and consequently would do little towards 

 holding in check the enemies of vegetation. Example 

 after example might be given to show that animals of 

 carnivorous habits readily adapt themselves to a vege- 

 table diet, and others of herbivorous propensities, quite 

 as easily become fitted to the digestion of animal food. 

 Of course the appetite for vegetable diet would still con- 

 tinue amid all the vicissitudes of life. The " struggle 

 for existence," during the predominance of the cold 

 season, would act with telling effect upon the weaker 

 portion of the community, the more powerful alone re- 

 maining to propagate the species on the return of warm 

 weather. Flocking to the country in quest of food, they 

 would doubtless become a prey to the shrike, which 

 delights in rural districts. At any rate, a perceptible 

 decrease in the amount of injuries committed would be 



