TREES. 91 



mantles of snow and ice. Then comes the renew- 

 ing of life-activities in spring, with the swelling and 

 bursting of buds, and the display of the softest 

 tints and colors. Summer brings its millions of 

 leaves, its welcome shade, and its subdued colors. 

 Most glorious of all are the radiant foliage color- 

 ings of autumn, telling that the trees have fur- 

 nished their season's work, and are ready for the 

 long rest of winter. 



A small tract of woodland on a farm presents 

 another advantage, and that is the number of birds 

 that will be attracted by it. Birds love the shelter 

 of trees for roosting and nesting, and will seek 

 them wherever they can be found. 



During the nesting and breeding season, the 

 parent birds supply their young with food from the 

 immediate surroundings. The food carried to 

 young birds consists mainly of soft -bodied insects, 

 such as grubs and caterpillars, and these generally 

 are the forms most destructive to crops. 



Birds, when undisturbed, as they would be in a 

 standing grove of trees, love to build year after 

 year in the same place. So, as the trees grow, the 

 farm would have a constant natural exterminator 

 at work against the enormous inroads of insects, 

 and stronger and more sure than the best artificial 

 means. 



Besides the good they do ip keeping down the 

 number of injurious insects, birds add to the cheer- 

 fulness and beauty of every rural scene, with their 



