THE USEFULNESS OF BIRDS 



Birds are so beautiful in color and charming in song that 

 they naturally attract and hold our attention. Their beauty 

 and sweetness have always been favorite themes of the poets. 

 Few have ever emphasized their helpfulness to man. Our own 

 Longfellow is an exception. In his "Birds of Killingworth" he 

 has given us a great lesson on the usefulness of birds, which 

 though clothed in poetic language is proven by scientific inves- 

 tigations to be no fiction. 



Mr. Frank M. Chapman says, "The economic value of 

 birds lies in the service they render in preventing the undue 

 increase of insects, in devouring small rodents, in destroying 

 seeds of harmful plants and in acting as scavengers. Leading 

 entomologists estimate that insects cause an annual loss of at 

 least two hundred million dollars to the agricultural interests 

 of the United States. . . . If we were deprived of the 

 services of the birds, the earth would soon become uninhab- 

 itable." 



Birds live mainly upon mice, rats, caterpillars, worms, 

 insects and the seeds of troublesome plants. All of these are 

 harmful to arboriculture, agriculture and horticulture and 

 cause great loss and labor. The means which nature has pro- 

 vided to check and destroy these pests of forest, field and 

 garden are the birds. Ignorance of this fact has led to the 

 wanton destruction of these protectors of man's interests. The 

 increase of noxious insects is largely due to the havoc wrought 

 among birds by thoughtless boys, lawless hunters and barbar- 

 ous fashions. 



Through the Department of Agriculture, the Government 

 has shown the usefulness of birds by making careful investiga- 



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