BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



little brush heap must remain where it is all 

 summer. 



The birds that nest in swamps and beside 

 the streams, have had the hardest time of all 

 these last few years. The pretty bits of bush 

 are disappearing, and with the going of the 

 trees, springs and streams and marshes are dry- 

 ing up. In some cases this land is useless for 

 agriculture and becomes only an exposed bed 

 of weeds, where once among the ferns and 

 grasses and fallen leaves the Woodcock or the 

 Crane, or our favorite, To-whit To-whee, made 

 their homes and reared their families. 



The value of the birds as insect destroyers, 

 their beauty and their cheerful songs are well 

 worth the preservation of the nesting places 

 that bring them back spring after spring from 

 their far-away winter homes. 



When the maples and elms and willows and 

 aspens have been left for the birds one might 

 consider the pruning of shrubs and shade trees, 

 so that they will grow in such a way as to pro- 

 vide the branch formations that the birds need. 

 Just by accident one way of doing this was dis- 

 covered. The top branches of some of the apple 

 trees had been cut back, the next year a little 

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