BIRDS AND TREES IN WINTER 



BY A. A. ALLEN, PH. D., CORNELL UNIVERSITY 



GRAY skies, white hills, and cold winds are not con- 

 ducive to thoughts of bird life. We look for beauty 

 now in ice crystals on the windows, purple shadows 

 on the snow, and dark branches silhouetted against the 

 sky. Life is dormant and the little creatures that still 

 eke out their existence with us seem not a part of the 

 winter. While we marvel at the rich greenery of the 

 pine, and the lacy network of the elm twigs, and the 

 sturdy growth of the orchard trees, we forget that even 

 during their winter sleep, their insidious foes are either 



A DOWNY WOODPECKER AT WORK 



Nature provides the woodpeckers to combat the borers. It is our duty 

 to see that the woodpeckers are encouraged to remain with us in good 

 numbers. Note the hole made by this fellow when he got the borer. 



at work beneath their bark or are safely ensconced in 

 its crevices awaiting the coming of spring to continue 

 their deadly work of destroying the foliage. The boring 

 larvae of the pine weevil and leopard moth are secure 

 from all man-made destructive agencies deep down in the 

 tissues ; the tiny eggs from which thousands of tent cater- 

 pillars and canker worms will hatch are safe behind a 

 thick coating of varnish, and the larvae of the codling 

 moth have hidden themselves behind the loose flakes of 

 bark of the apple trees. It is little wonder that they 

 pass unnoticed and unthought of. Summer comes and 

 the tops of the young pines shrivel and grow brown, the 

 elm branches drop their leaves and die, the foliage of 

 our shade trees becomes ragged and hundreds of little 

 caterpillars hang down on silken threads or spin tents 

 among the branches, and long before harvest, the apples 

 fall to the ground and are wasted. Now, we say, is the 

 time we need the birds. 



But let us examine some of the young pines whose 

 tops are still green. There beneath the terminal whorl 



of branches are two or three little round holes. Per- 

 haps they are now filled with gum, for they were made 

 last winter. They were made by a downy woodpecker to 

 get the weevil larvae beneath the bark. If we examine 

 the elms we find that it is the city trees that have suffered 

 most from the leopard moth, trees that have not been 

 visited by the woodpeckers. It is the same with the 

 other shade trees but wherever a troop of nuthatches 

 and chickadees and brown creepers have spent the winter 

 climbing about the trunk of the trees, examining all of the 

 crevices in the bark, and scrutinizing all of the branches, 

 the leaves still retain their freshness and caterpillars are 

 few. The little packets of eggs that would have given 

 rise to thousands of caterpillars formed lunches for these 

 winter birds. In the orchard irrregular holes through the 

 loose flakes of bark attest their usefulness again for they 

 tell of their inroads upon the hibernating codling moths. 

 Summer is not the only time for birds. If we had more 

 of them during the winter we would not need so many 



THE DOWNIES LARGER COUSIN 



This is the hairy woodpecker, and every dollar spent for suet or sun- 

 flower seed to attract the winter birds is a dollar well invested. 



in the summer. Every effort, therefore, should be made 

 to increase the number of winter birds. 



Former numbers of American Forestry have given 

 directions for attracting the winter birds by maintain- 

 ing feeding stations for them throughout the fall and 

 winter. One should feel that every dollar spent for 

 suet or sunflower seed is a dollar well invested, for thus 

 a whole company of beneficial birds can be kept in our 

 service. Far better than any spray for combating the 

 codling moth we are told in the best manuals on fruit 

 growing, is the fastening of suet in the trees to attract 

 the winter birds. The same is true for many other pests 



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