Photo by Mrs. P. W. Roe 



A re;d-beIvIvIEd woodpecker 



This is a common bird in our Southern States and occasionally is seen as far north as 

 Massachusetts. It inhabits alike coniferous and deciduous growths, but prefers the latter. 

 It ascends a tree in a curious, jerkj^ fashion, accompanying each upward move by a hoarse 

 chfili-chuh. 



or buzzards of the South are protected 

 both by law and public sentiment, and 

 as a result they are not only exceedingly 

 abundant, but remarkably tame. But we 

 do not realize that gulls and some other 

 water birds are also beneficial as scaven- 

 gers in eating refuse, which if left float- 

 ing on the water would often be cast 

 ashore to decay. Dr. George F. Gaumer, 

 of Yucatan, tells me that the killing of 

 immense numbers of herons and other 

 littoral birds in Yucatan has been fol- 

 lowed by an increase in human mortality 

 among the inhabitants of the coast, which 

 he is assured is a direct result of the 

 destruction of birds that formerly as- 

 sisted in keeping the beaches and bayous 

 free from decaying animal matter. 



Lack of space forbids an adequate 

 treatment of this subject, but reference 

 to the works and papers mentioned be- 

 low* will support the statement that, if 



*Notes on the Nature of the Food of the 

 Birds of Nebraska, by S. Aughey; First An- 

 nual Report of the United States Entomo- 

 logical Commission for the Year 1877, Appen- 

 dix ii, pp. 13-62. The Food of Birds, by S. A. 

 Forbes; Bulletin No. 3, Illinois State Labora- 

 tory of Natural History, 1880, pp. 80-148. The 

 Regulative Action of Birds upon Insect Os- 



we were deprived of the services of 

 birds, the earth would soon become un- 

 inhabitable. 



WHAT THEY ASK IN RETURN 



Nevertheless, the feathered protectors 

 of our farms and gardens, plains and 

 forests, require so little encouragement 

 from us — indeed, ask only tolerance — 

 that we accept their services much as we 

 do the air we breathe. We may be in 

 debt to them past reckoning and still be 

 unaware of their existence ; but to ap- 

 preciate the beauty of form and plumage 

 of birds, their grace of motion and musi- 

 cal powers, we must know them. 



The sight of a bird or the sound of its 

 voice is at all times an event of such 

 significance to me, a source of such un- 

 failing pleasure, that when I go afield 

 with those to whom birds are strangers 

 I am deeply impressed by the compara- 



cillations, by S. A. Forbes ; ibid., Bulletin No. 6, 

 1883, pp. 3-32. Economic Relations of Wis- 

 consin Birds, by F. H. King; Wisconsin Geo- 

 logical Survey, vol. i, 1882, pp. 441-610. Report 

 on the Birds of Pennsjdvania, with Special 

 Reference to the Food Habits, based on over 

 Four Thousand Stomach Examinations, by 

 B. H. Warren; Harrisburg, E. K. Meyers, 



710 



