PROTECTION" AGAINST ANIMALS. 119 



it more adapted for the reception and retention of 

 humidity and fertilizing matter. 



Martens, some species of the weasel, the fox, polecat 

 and badger, are veiy useful also. These animals feeding 

 principally upon mice, and many noxious insects, should 

 be allowed to remain. Special care should be taken to 

 spare the young of these animals as they live exclusively 

 on mice and insects. 



The importance of birds, as valuable factors in forests 

 is very great. With the exception of some of the larger 

 ones as for instance : the eagle, vulture, falcon, the 

 hawk, the horn-owl and the raven, most of them contrib- 

 ute to the healthy growth of trees. The smaller birds 

 are always hunting the enemies of tree-growth, and their 

 multiplication should be encouraged in every conceivable 

 way. They, therefore, should not only be spared, but 

 also protected against their principal foes, cats and squir- 

 rels, during breeding-time. The starlings, woodpeckers, 

 all kinds of thrushes, black birds, whip-poor-wils, the 

 purple martin, the oriole, the cedar-bird, the cat-bird, 

 the red-eyed vireo and the like have proved especially 

 beneficial ; they feed not only upon insects, but in 

 winter, when the ground is covered with snow, some of 

 them search industriously for the eggs of the insects 

 buried in the bark and twigs of the trees. No gunner 

 should shoot one of these little animals of the feath- 

 ered tribe. 



Singing birds live without exception on insects. The 

 forester should devote to them special care, and set aside 

 certain places where there are bushes or hollow trees, as 

 these afford the most desirable opportunities for nest- 

 building. In case such opportunities are lacking, breed- 

 ing-boxes should be hung up in the trees in order to 

 afford the feathered tribes the facilities to build nests 

 and rear their young. It is advisable to leave wild fruit- 

 trees as crab-apple, wild cherry, plum, pear etc., which 



