14 BIRDS 



the snowy fields. In enumerating the little weeders that 

 serve us without so much as a "thank you" — and fifty 

 different birds are on this list — we must not forget the 

 horned lark, chewink, blackbird, cowbird, grackle, meadow- 

 lark, bobolink, ruffed grouse, bob white, and the mourning 

 dove. 



Even the most sluggish birds — and some of the finch 

 tribe have a reputation for being that — ^are fast livers com- 

 pared with men. Their hearts beat twice as fast as oiu-s; 

 we should be feverish were our blood as hot; therefore, the 

 quantity of food required to sustain such high vitality, 

 especially in winter, is relatively enormous. A tree spar- 

 row will eat one hundred seeds of pigeon-grass at a single 

 meal, and a snowflake, observed in a Massachusetts gar 

 den one February morning, picked up more than a thou- 

 sand seeds of pigweed for breakfast. 



Business Co-partnerships 



In view of the enormous amount of work certain birds 

 are capable of doing for the farmers, how many take any 

 pains to secure their free services continuously; to get help 

 from them as well as from the spraying machine and insect 

 powder on which so much time and money are spent 

 annually.? The truth is that very few farmers, indeed, 

 realize the true situation; therefore the intelligent, the 

 obvious thing to be done is generally neglected. 



One of the most successful fruit-growers in Georgia, 

 whose luxuriant orchard and luscious peaches are famous 

 throughout the market, entered some time ago into a sys- 

 tematic, business-like understanding with a number of 

 birds whose special appetites for special insect pests make 

 them invaluable partners. Up and down through the 



