BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



would be defeated by hordes of insect pests that 

 would devour the trees and the crops. The cut- 

 worm alone which, by cutting the stalk at the 

 surface of the ground, destroys every plant it 

 attacks, if allowed to increase, would menace 

 the production of the most fertile acres. Na- 

 ture, however, has given birds that feed upon 

 the ground some mysterious way of locating 

 these worms hidden under the ground, and 

 strong, sensitive beaks with which they dig 

 them out. 



The agricultural value of birds has long been 

 recognized in England. In no country are they 

 more carefully protected, and probably in no 

 country has there been less destruction of crops 

 by insect pests. 



In New Zealand, where wingless birds 

 abound, they have been given sanctuaries 

 where they are protected. Had this not been 

 done they would have been forced to hide away 

 in some dense thickets, and would soon have 

 become extinct as they could not long have 

 escaped the wild creatures that prey upon 

 them, or the gunner and his dog. The guardian 

 of these sanctuaries in writing of the wingless 

 birds as insect destroyers, remarks that, "If 

 [15] 



