VOL. XIII. 



BOSTON, MAY, 1861. 



NO. 5. 



NOURSE, EATOX & TOL^^AX, Proprietors cnvrnw PSRnwTJ pniTOR 

 Office.... 34 Merciiaxts' Row. SIMON BROWN, EDITOR. 



FRED'K HOLBROOK, > Associatb 

 HEXRY F. FREN'Cn, j Editors. 



CALENDAR FOB MAY. 



"Born in yon blaze of orient sky, 

 Sweet May ! Thy radiant form unfold ; 



Unclose thy blue, voluptuous eye. 

 And wave thy shadowy locks of gold. 



"For thee the fragrant zephyrs blow, 



For thee descends the sunny shower ; 

 The rills in softer murmurs flow, 



And brighter blossoms gem the flowers." 



Dr. Darwin. 



AY opens with a 

 full chorus of sing- 

 ing birds, whose 

 voices may now 

 be heard in all di- 

 rections, inviting 

 us abroad to en- 

 gage in the early 

 duties of Spring, 

 and to cheer us in 

 our labors. All 

 men are delighted 

 with their songs, 

 ^^ — not excepting 

 , those who are indif- 



-^ ferent to the strains of 

 artificial music. The notes 

 of birds have a chnrm for 

 us exceeding everything 

 else in nature. All men 

 acknowledge the birds as 

 their friends and benefactors ; and yet they seem 

 bent upon their destruction. It cannot be that 

 our people fully realize the value of the services 

 of the feathered tribes, or they would certainly 

 use more endeavors to foster and protect them. 

 We feel, therefore, that we cannot perform a 

 more important service with our pen at the pres- 

 ent time, than to present a few reasons, not only 

 for protecting the birds, but for taking pains to 

 cause the multiplication of som.e of the most val- 

 uable species. 



The grand service performed by the feathered 

 race is the devouring of insects, whereby they 

 prevent their excessive increase, and the conse- 

 quent destruction of our fields. Let us for one 

 moment consider what an enormous quantity of 

 insects would come into existence, were it not for 

 the agency of another race in destroying them.. 

 It is highly probable, notwithstanding the infinite- 

 hosts that infest our gardens, our orchards, and 

 our forests, that by far the greater part of all that 

 burst into life are destroyed in the early stages of 

 their existence. They are devoured in their grub' 

 state, and are thus prevented, not only from be- 

 coming themselves perfect insects, but also from 

 continuing their species. Many are also de- 

 stroyed in the eggs by the smaller kinds of birds. 

 Were all those which are thus prematurely de- 

 voured, permitted to live out the full period of 

 their existence, such would be the vastness of 

 their numbers, that almost any species would 

 swarm like the locusts of Africa, All kinds of 

 vegetation would be destroyed by them ; and the 

 consequent loss of their means of subsistence 

 would be the only cause of their destruction. 



Without the agency of the small birds, there- 

 fore, it is safe to say, that man could not exist on 

 this terrestrial globe. It would be impossible to 

 devise any other means by which the over-multi- 

 plication of insects could be prevented. Our 

 grain and grass crops would be destroyed in the 

 herb by the grasshopper and locust tribes ; in the 

 grain by weevils and other seed eaters ; our trees 

 would be perforated and killed by increased mul- 

 titudes of borers ; their foliage consumed by cat- 

 erpillars, and their fruit by the larva and butter- 

 iiies. In their different stages of existence, each 

 separate species would successively attack the 

 roots, the herb, the -wood, the bark, the leaf, the 

 flower and the fruit, until nothing would be left 

 of vegetation either to man or to nature. Lastly, 

 the atmosphere would swarm with such darkening 

 legions of small flies, gnats and musquitoes, that 



