51 



and j^ives encouragement bv \\ liich the citizen and the 

 State may work together toward a common end. 



It is sincerely hoped that this judicious work of pop 

 ular education will not be restricted to Forestry, but 

 will expand widely and embrace the field of Zoology. 

 What would a forest be without its happy, vivacious 

 host of sweet-voiced choristeis and other tenants 

 which keep in check the hidden insect enemies? 



Year by year the extermination of animal-life goes 

 steadily on, yet no systematic efforts are made to coun- 

 teract the unjust prejudices entertained by the masses. 

 If the beneficial birds and mammals, which subsist al- 

 most entirely on detrimental forms of insect-life, con- 

 tinues for a few more years, as it has in the past fif- 

 teen, crops can only be cultivated with the greatest 

 amount of labor and expense. Even now, in many 

 parts of this State, and the same is true of almost 

 every other State in the Union, numerous crops could 

 not be grown to maturity and profit, if it were not 

 for the liberal use of insecticides which modern econ 

 omic entomological science has contributed to aid in 

 staying the destruction which man, through ignor 

 ance, has brought about by disturbing nature's bal- 

 ance. 



The total loss of crops in some regions has been 

 carefully investigated and found to be chiefly due to 

 the destruction of insectivorous birds. 



It is not, of course, expected that farmers, poulter- 

 ers and sport-smen should be asked to protect the 

 harmful raptorial birds, which are fully described on 

 succeeding pages, but it is important, in numerous 

 ways, that they should have a better general knowl- 

 edge of many of these birds, which they now destroy 

 on all occasions, under the belief that they are doing 

 service, rather than harm, to the poultry, game and 

 ngricultural interests. 



