56 



every two years, in consideration of the early nesters, which often begin 

 before the wood has come into leaf. The lopping should be carried out 

 in such a way that a newly-lopped stock- bush alternates with one that 

 is untouched for the time being. The uncut bushes are treated in the 

 same way the next year, while those cut the previous year are not 

 touched. 



By this means there are an equal number of stock- bushes with freshly- 

 cut whorls, and of those with last year's whorls alternating with each 

 other. 



Fig. 6. OLD WHORLS RECENTLY PRUNED. 



Between the stock-bushes the hedge grows up, serving as a protection 

 to the bushes which have been cut to the ground. The bushes will 

 have developed greatly in a few years, so that there will be little differ- 

 ence between them and the stock-bushes, and the whole will resemble 

 an impenetrable thicket. The whole wood must, therefore, be cut to 

 the ground every five or six years, with the exception of the stock- 

 bushes, the tall trees, and the plants forming the groups. In order 

 not to interfere with the settling of the birds, the copse may be divided 

 into several parts, which are alternately cut down in different years. 



A bird shelter-wood of this kind thus requires six to eight years 

 before it is complete, as generally three-year-old plants are used. Our 

 object may be attained quicker if we use older plants. 



Abundant proof is found every year at Seebach of the remarkable 

 fondness shown by birds for the whorl- shaped ramifications. 

 According to the Ornithological Journal, 1904, p. 490, no fewer than 85 

 nests were found in the autumn of 1904 in the oldest shelter- wood, 

 which is about 8 yards wide and about 230 yards long ; that is to 

 say, one nest for less than every three yards. In the autumn of 1906, 

 the forester Kullmann, who was sent by the Government of the Grand 



