to be equally valuable as regards the resulting bene- 

 fits; though necessarily those coming from class one 

 are more tangible and easily stated than those from 

 class two. 



CLASS ONE. To say that the avian forces of 

 the world are the most valuable allies of the farmer, 

 the fruit grower, the forester and all others whose 

 occupation relates to any form of floral-growth, 

 would, I think in this case, be merely a farce. Surely 

 everyone who studies ornithology at all and many 

 who know nothing about the science will admit this 

 statement to be true. My reason for offering no 

 proof is the sweeping and overwhelming abundance 

 rather than the scarcity of it. It has been proven 

 beyond a doubt that the vast majoritv of birds are 

 beneficial, many to an incredible extent; but some 

 species are harmful. You will immediately ask what 

 these species are. In some cases we do not yet know 

 and in others we are still slightly uncertain on ac- 

 count of the lack of trustworthy information. The 

 direct cause is the scarcity of credible observers. Cer- 

 tainly this is one excuse for the existence of ornitho- 

 logical study, i. e., the determination of the value of 

 each species — whether it is beneficial or harmful and 

 to what degree. 



This is not all the value of Class One, however. A 

 nearly equally important factor is its intellectual bene- 

 fit. As a study for the training of the mind, it should 

 certainly stand high — all sciences should, because of 

 the need for care required in their study. Then is this 

 not another cause which makes it worthy of study? 



16 



