320 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



How TO INCREASE THE NuMBER OF BiRDS USEFUL IN 



Woodlands. 



Some practical lessons have been learned from the study 

 of the food of the wood birds. As birds go where they find 

 food most abundant, many birds of the swamp, field and 

 orchard go from their usual haunts, one-half mile or more, 

 to the woods to feed on insects plentiful there. Thus the 

 l)ol)olink in the meadow goes to the woods for aphides, and 

 the oriole in the orchard and the blackbird in the marsh jro 

 there for caterpillars. On the other hand, the chickadee, 

 blue jay, tanager and the warblers go from the woods to the 

 orchards and gardens for caterpillars. In an orchard near 

 the woods we noticed that the wood birds came frequently to 

 those trees nearest the woods, and, by adding their work to 

 that of those living in the orchard, soon cleared the canker 

 worms from the trees nearest the woods. 



All our experience thus far goes to show that a well- 

 watered country, where the woodland is kept mainly in 

 detached patches, with the rest of the land more open, much 

 of it well cultivated, with an occasional marsh or swamp, is 

 best calculated to encourage the increase of the largest num- 

 bers of species of birds. In such a country vegetation should 

 therefore receive better protection from l>irds than in any 

 other. In view of these facts, it is possible for a man buy- 

 ing only from thirty to one hundred acres of land to so select 

 his land and control the growth of vegetation upon it as to 

 obtain the conditions requisite to secure an abundance and 

 variety of birds. The first requisite to attract birds is a 

 quantity of suitable food. To provide this, a diversity of 

 vegetation is desirable. This provides not only a variety 

 of fruit and seeds, but furnishes food for a large variety of 

 insects, which will attract the birds. It is especially desir- 

 able to have both wild and cultivated cherries and grapes ; 

 and, if the birds take too large a proportion of the cultivated 

 species, the earlier wild berries, like the Russian mulberry 

 and the shadberry, should be planted, to draw the birds' 

 attention from the cultivated fruit. Winter food may be 

 furnished birds by planting mountain ash, sumach, bayberry 

 and other berries, which cling to the trees or shrubs bearing 



