172 CONSERVATION OF CANADIAN WILD LIFE 



of birds that are an actual necessity in the maintenance of 

 as great a control as possible over the infinite variety of 

 insect pests that attack the roots, stems, branches, and 

 leaves of our cultivated plants and trees. And whatever 

 may be the habitat of the insect it is usually found by some 

 species of bird owing to the diversity of their feeding-habits. 



In view of the great economic value of our insectivorous 

 birds from an agricultural standpoint, but not forgetting 

 the aesthetic motives which surely need not be supported 

 by argument, it is evident that the protection of these birds 

 must form an important part in the maintenance or in- 

 crease of our agricultural production. 



Experience has shown that not only directly by kiUing, but 

 indirectly by the destruction of their natural haunts and 

 breeding-places, man has intentionally and unintentionally 

 been more anxious to destroy bird life than to protect it. 

 Leaving aside the wilful destruction which birds have suf- 

 fered by their misfortune in offering an easy and living tar- 

 get, we find that the former haunts of our birds are obhter- 

 ated by the advance of agriculture and settlement. Wood- 

 lands and forest are cut down and give way to open fields; 

 bird-haunted snake fences yield to wire. Near our cities 

 subdivisions and lots wipe out the waste places and wooded 

 haunts of birds. With their breeding and feeding places 

 more and more reduced, and their lives frequently endan- 

 gered, it is not surprising that birds are not more abundant, 

 and that protection and encouragement are essential. 



Local Abundance of Birds. — Few people realize the variety 

 of birds that breed within a certain area, as so many species 

 are shy in their habits. During the last few years the Bi- 

 ological Survey of the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture has been conducting a bird census of the United 

 States. As illustrating the valuable and interesting data 

 that such a census provides, the following are the results of 

 an annual census taken since 1914 by Mr. Norman Criddle, 



