BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



prived many of the birds of nesting places, or 

 the necessary surroundings for their homes. 



Every year several pairs of Orioles have 

 nested here, and they are seldom known to 

 hang their nests on any tree except an elm, 

 though they have a choice of numerous kinds 

 of tall trees. There seems to be something in 

 the way the high branches of the elms curve 

 over at the tip that answers the requirements 

 of these birds. 



Unfortunately these graceful trees are not 

 so numerous in some country places as they 

 were. The idea seems to have spread among 

 some people that they are in some way detri- 

 mental. They will tell you most positively that 

 the elms take all the moisture out of the ground 

 for an astonishing distance round about, and 

 that if they grow along the road-side they will 

 spoil the crop half way across the field, or give 

 other objections equally absurd. And so where 

 the land has passed into the hands of those less 

 intelligent and less experienced, the elms have 

 decreased in number. These beautiful trees, 

 left by the pioneers for their shade and their 

 protection, have in recent years been cut down 

 to an alarming extent by the more ignorant of 

 [211] 



