thirteen] securing OUR ALLIES 



ing everywhere for the eggs that are hidden away 

 under the bark, and for borers that are in the trees. 

 The poetry of Hf e always has a practical side to it, 

 and most practical affairs, rightly worked out, are 

 full of poetry. 



Mr. Henry Oldys, biologist of the Geological 

 Survey, speaks of birds as national property. He 

 says, "Let the farmer remember that every bird 

 destroyed, and particularly every nest robbed, is 

 equivalent to a definite increase in insects with 

 which he already has to struggle, and he will soon 

 appreciate the fact that he has a personal interest, 

 and a strong one, in the preservation of the birds. 

 Robert Kennicott, a most careful and reliable ob- 

 server, ascertained that a single pair of house wrens 

 carried to their young about one thousand insects in 

 a day. At this rate a young brood of wrens destroys, 

 before leaving the nest, as many as ten thousand 

 insects. According to the usual proportion, in the 

 food of these birds, about six thousand of these 

 insects are such as devastate crops. 



A home where robins, bluebirds, humming 

 birds, wrens, chipping sparrows, catbirds, and 

 orioles form an animated and friendly throng on 

 bush and tree and sunny lawn, or pour their notes 



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