14 THE IMPORTANCE OF BIRD LIFE 



mouth, but soft-skinned seeds are utterly de- 

 stroyed. 



Thrushes form the third group. These do not 

 retain the seeds for long after swallowing the 

 fruit containing them. As quickly as the pulp is 

 disposed of, the seeds are rejected through the 

 mouth before they can pass from the crop to the 

 gizzard. The small seeds, however, travel 

 through the intestines, with the result that about 

 80 per cent, are afterward capable of germination. 

 Likewise all hard seeds which pass through 

 members of the second group germinate, but 

 none from the first group. The finches in the 

 United States daily destroy sufficient weed seeds 

 to earn for them the eternal gratitude of the 

 country. 



But in the same way, while the finches are de- 

 stroying their daily millions, more millions are 

 feeing scattered broadcast by the other groups, to 

 take the place of plants which have succumbed to 

 time or malnutrition. This brings us to birds in 

 their character of planters. 



Four-footed animals, the nut-storing squirrels 

 and berry-eating bears for example, play an 

 active part in the spread of plant life, but birds 

 by all odds are primary factors. Crows, 

 jays, and woodpeckers are responsible for far 

 more dispersal of seeds than they are commonly 

 given credit for. They store great heaps of 

 nuts like squirrels ; they hide them singly in crev- 



