ECONOMIC VALUE OF OUR BIRDS 45 



the friends of birds at large filed such insistent and 

 persistent demands for the law that Congress was 

 amazed; and it is a well-known fact that several 

 senators who doubted the constitutionality of the 

 McLean bill purposely refrained from voting 

 against it because of the strength of the popular 

 demand for the law. 



And well may the producers and consumers of 

 food and timber desire the protection of the birds 

 that help to protect the crops and the trees at large 

 from the insect hordes that are ever present to 

 destroy root, branch, leaf, flower and fruit. It is 

 indeed high time for the forester and the lumber- 

 man to become practical bird protectionists, and 

 devote both time and effort to the making of laws, 

 and the enforcement of laws, for the thorough pro- 

 tection of all birds that consume the insect enemies 

 of trees. I believe it is no exaggeration to estimate 

 that more trees are annually destroyed in the 

 United States by insects than are destroyed by fire ; 

 and yet much more is said about the protection of 

 forests from fires than from insects. Some of the 

 far western states, particularly Washington and 

 Oregon, have been flooded with admirable fire- 

 alarm circulars and posters; but has any state 

 lumbermen's association, or any organization of 

 forest protectors, ever made a whirlwind campaign 

 for the better protection of forests from insects ? 



Fires are spectacular and tragic, and it is nat- 

 ural that they should fix public attention far more 



