198 PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 



man by their attractions might be induced to preserve a 

 race of creatures so valuable to his interest. 



There are two ways of preserving the birds : we may 

 avoid destroying them, and we may promote the growth 

 of certain trees, shrubs, and plants that afford them shelter 

 and subsistence. The familiar birds that live in our gar- 

 dens and orchards will multiply in proportion as the forests 

 are cleared and the land devoted to tillage, if the clearing- 

 does not amount to baldness. To this class belong many 

 of our sparrows, the robin, the bobolink, — indeed, all our 

 familiar species. The solitary birds that inhabit the pas- 

 ture and forest would probably be exterminated by the 

 same operations that would increase the number of rob- 

 ins and sparrows. It is no less necessary to keep the 

 birds for the preservation of the forests than to keep 

 the forests for the preservation of the birds. 



To insure the protection of all species, there must be 

 a certain proportion of thicket and wildwood. The little 

 wood-sparrow seldom frequents our villages, unless they 

 are closely surrounded by woods. Yet this bird lives 

 and breeds in the open field. He frequents the pastures 

 which are overgrown with wild shrubbery and its accom- 

 paniment of vines, mosses, and ferns. He is always found 

 in the whortleberry field, and probably makes an occasional 

 repast on its fruits in their season. He builds his nest 

 on the ground or on a mossy knoll protected by a thicket. 

 All birds are attached to grounds which are covered with 

 particular kinds of plants and shrubbery that sustain their 

 favorite insect food. If we destroy this kind of vegetation, 

 we drive away the species that are chiefly attached to 

 it from our vicinity, to seek their natural habitats. We 

 may thus account for the silence that pervades the local- 

 ity of many admired country-seats ; for with regard to 

 the wants of our familiar birds it is often that trimming 

 and cultivation are carried to a pernicious extreme. 



