DAMAGE CAUSED BY ANIMALS. 107 



charged with the fault of forming the very curious rings or 

 girdles not infrequently seen round tree-stems, and especially 

 noticeable on old Scots Pine, whilst at the same time their crusade 

 against insects extends for the most part only to the seeking of 

 the larger kinds of larvae (Cerambyx, &c.) in trees that are already 

 unsound. The pros and cons cannot be weighed here ; but as 

 the German Birds' Protection Act of 1888 has taken the wood- 

 peckers under its wing, and as no forester shoots them, these facts 

 rather testify to their utility on the whole. 



56. Preventive and Protective Measures. 



Where Capercailzie still occur, the seed-beds of coniferous species 

 can easily be protected by laying a light wooden frame-work over 

 the beds exposed to danger, or by putting down rough branching 

 top-ends and branches on the ground, so as to interfere with the 

 peregrinations and movings to and fro of the birds. Wire frame- 

 work, and the stretching of wires along and across the beds, have 

 also been tried with good results, but, of course, they come some- 

 what expensive. 



Against Pigeons and Doves, which are more apt to attack the 

 sowings in the open than the nursery-beds, measures can be taken 

 by delaying the sowing of the seed till after the chief period of 

 migration is over, by giving the seed a sufficient covering of soil, 

 or, if necessary, by maintaining a watch over the sowings for a 

 short time, and occasionally frightening away the birds ; but on 

 the whole, the best means that can be adopted is the use of 

 red-lead, to be recommended below. 



Jays can only be kept off the sowings by watching, and by 

 shooting them now and again ; whilst in nurseries, laying rugged 

 branches and thorny scrub over the seed-beds, or else some sort of 

 a frame- work, is useful, more especially if combined with shooting 

 them down occasionally. 



Against Finches the seed-beds can best be protected by frame- 

 work, and absolute security may be obtained against them if it be 

 made of wire netting. Excellent results can, however, at the 

 same time be obtained by dipping the seed into red-lead, which 

 gives the seed a red coating poisonous and distasteful to the 

 birds, but innocuous so far as the germinating capacity is con- 

 cerned. This method is, at the same time, extremely cheap, for 



