EVERGREENS AND BIRD LIFE. 353 



thee how closely the evergreen is connected with bird 

 life — how closely its ever verdant branches are linked 

 with the welfare of the birds of the field — birds that are 

 to be met with almost everywhere we bend our steps, 

 and which, if it were not for these perennial vegetable 

 safeguards, would probably be denied an existence on 

 our shores save when the sun is shining in the northern 

 tropic. 



