138 



GENESEE FARMER. 



June. 



A Plea for the Birtis. 



NUMBER ONE. 



I HAVE often thought, that if the affairs of earth 

 were left to the will, or taste, of some, the world 

 would soon be converted into a desert. Not a 

 tree would be allowed to grow whose prospective 

 value could not be estimated in dollars and cents, 

 nor a bird permitted to live, that could offer a 

 mark for the sportsman. "I love trees," said 

 one, not long since, "but I want them in the 

 woods where they belong ;" while the parching 

 rays of the summer's sun fell upon and around 

 his dwelling, unmitigated by the shade of a single 

 leaf J and the chilling blasts of winter, in turn, 

 swept by, in all their freezing majesty. " What 

 else are they good for ?" asks another heartless 

 piece of mortality, as he picks up the mangled 

 object of his cruel sport. 



" What else are they good for ?"^ It is diffi- 

 cult to reason with one who neither sees nor 

 acknowledges any rights but his own, nor any 

 profits but those of the purse. " What else are 

 they good for ?" Deprive the world of its shades 

 and its animation, and who that has the soul of a 

 man, would not feel that it was no longer a fit 

 residence for a social being ? 



" What else are they good for ?" To those 

 who are disposed to listen, I will say : It will be 

 difficult to prove that any thing "has been made 

 in vain." But as this may seem too general, it 

 may be remarked, that the appropriate food of 

 birds is seeds, berries, insects, &c. It has been 

 calculated that a single pair of sparrows, during 

 the time of rearing their young, consurpe over 

 2000 caterpillars in a single week. Allowing 

 each pair of little birds to consume even half that 

 number of insects of different kinds, and we see 

 at once that millions of bugs, worms, moths, cat- 

 erpillars, &c., are daily destroyed by the vari- 

 ous tribes of the feathered race. Hence, who- 

 ever kills them, does an injury both to himself 

 and to society. 



Should it be said, "Few birds will eat cater 

 pillars," it may be replied, 'caterpillars do not 

 always remain such, but are soon transformed 

 into moths, butterflies, &c., and who does not 

 know the havoc made among these by the birds ! 

 We know the difficulty of raising some kinds of 

 fruit, vegetables, and (I might add) grain too.— 

 We know, too, that this difficulty is much great 

 er in some seasons than in others, oa account of 

 the multiplicity of insects. Mow much greater 

 would it be if none were destroyed by the birds ! 

 Again : many of them feed on seeds as well as 

 insects. After all that they destroy or consume, 

 the farmer often experiences great difficulty in 

 keeping down troublesome weeds; and how much 

 greater would be his task, if none of the seeds 

 were consumed by the birds ! 



"But," says one, "they eat also our fruit and 



grain." Well, suppose they do ; do they not 

 pay us for it, in destroying foul seeds and in- 

 sects ? The truth is ; we overlook the good they 

 do, because we are not in the habit of observing, 

 and think only of the injury, which is generally 

 more imrginary than real ; and hence, over-ra- 

 ted. Besides, who, that has a spark of benevo- 

 lence, would grudge them a few grains, if it were 

 only to witness the happiness they seem to en- 



joy 



would feed them, if I received only a 



song m return. 



" But, what shall be said of hawks, crows, and 

 blackbirds ?" Hawks, being birds of prey, will 

 not spare even our domestic fowls. Man has the 

 right to protect his own ; hence, he may destroy 

 hawks in defence of his rights. The appropriate 

 food of crows and blackbirds is bugs, worms, 

 grubs, carion, &c. Every plowman well knows 

 that these birds, if unmolested, will follow in the 

 new-turned furrow and pick up the very bugs, 

 grubs, beetles, &c., which are so destructive to 

 our corn and potatoes. These birds, then, are 

 really the friends of man. They are moreover, 

 his scavengers, clearing the earth of foul, pestif- 

 erous matter, as well as of destructive insects. — 

 It is true, the crow sometimes steals an egg, or a 

 chicken, and perhaps a few hills of corn ; but 

 the former is merely incidental, being only oc- 

 casional, and not necessarily any part of his ap- 

 propriate work ; and the latter can easily be pre- 

 vented. It has long since become a proverb, 

 "No crows, no corn;" and who does not know 

 that in seasons when no crows are seen, our corn 

 is often nearly destroyed by worms ! It cannot 

 be doubted, that the crow and the black-bird save 

 to man ten-fold more than they destroy. 



But the most bitter complaint is made against 

 the "cherry-bird." Of this bird I know little, 

 but I believe that, if the truth were known, even 

 this little thief does more general good than in- 

 dividual injury, and that if he were left to him- 

 self, and the " cherry-man's" loss were made up 

 to him by a tax on the public, the tiller of the 

 soil would be profited by the arrangement. 



I plead, then, for the birds. If need be, I will 

 except birds of prey, which I leave to the dispo- 

 sal of those whose lot brings them into more im- 

 mediate contact with them. But, for the robin, 

 the swallow, the blue-bird, and the thousand other 

 little warblers that come into our gardens and 

 orchards to place themselver under our protec- 

 tion against birds of prey ; that fill the air with 

 the music o^' their notes ; — for these I make my 

 plea. " What are they good for ?" If they 

 were good for nothing, I would not betray them. 

 I would love them for their music, for their beau- 

 ty. I love to vvitness their little sports. I love 

 them because they are happy, and because they 

 show forth the benevolence of their Creator. 



Fairport, March 9, 1847. H. 



Good fences make good neighbors. 



