61 

 They should be cut close above the dormant eyes, so that the new 

 growth forms whorl-shaped ramifications, which serve the birds as a 

 foundation for their nests. 



These whorl-shaped sprouts must be cut back next year, as in Fig. 5, 

 and this must be done annually as in Pig. 6, for this causes them to 

 ramify, and the birds settle in them all the more readily. The earlier 

 the pruning is done, the earlier the sprouting takes place. Autumn 

 is better than spring, on account of the early broods. 



Between the stock-bushes the hedge grows up, serving as a protection, 

 i.e., the bushes which have been cut to the ground. The bushes will 



OLD WHOELS RECENTLY PRUNED. 



have developed greatly in a few years, so that there will be little differ- 

 ence between them and the stock-bushes, and the whole will resemble 

 an impenetrable thicket. The whole wood must, therefore, be cut to 

 the ground every five or six years, with the exception of the stock- 

 bushes, the tall trees, the rose hedge, and the plants forming the 

 groups. In order not to interfere with the settling of the birds, the 

 copse may be divided into several parts, which are alternately cut 

 down in different years. 



A bird shelter-wood of this kind thus requires seven to nine years 

 before it is complete, as generally three-year-old plants are used. Our 

 object may be attained quicker if we use older plants. 



Abundant proof is found every year at Seebach of the remarkable 

 fondness shown by birds for the whorl-shaped ramifications. 

 According to the Ornithological Journal, 1904, p. 490, no fewer than 85 

 nests were found in the autumn of 1904 in the oldest shelter-wood, 

 which is about 8 yards wide and about 230 yards long ; that is to 

 say, one nest for less than every three yards. In the autumn of 1906, 

 the forester KuUmann, who was sent by the Government of the Grand 



