CHAPTER II 



THE VALUE OF BIRDS 



THE tragedy that came to the little Wrens 

 is but the tragedy that has come to birds 

 all over the country far and wide, wher- 

 ever they have sought to make their homes. 

 Time and again they have been forced to leave 

 the spot they had chosen and search out distant 

 nesting places. If people could realize the 

 loss to garden and orchard and farm when even 

 one pair of useful birds gives up housekeeping 

 there, the loss to the whole country should one 

 little family of nestlings be wiped out, men, 

 women and children would work together to 

 keep the feathered creatures with them. 



The number of injurious insects destroyed 

 by birds is beyond estimate. Anyone doubtful 

 of the good they do should watch a pair of tiny 

 house Wrens feeding their young nestlings and 

 try to count the number of times in one hour 

 that they come to the nest with food, some- 

 times not only with one insect but with a 

 beakful. About thirty times an hour is a low 

 [11] 



