SERVICE OF BIRDS IN THE ORCHARD. 149 
CHAPTER IV, 
THE ECONOMIC SERVICE OF BIRDS IN THE ORCHARD. 
The conditions in the orchard regarding bird life approx- 
imate those in the woods. The trees offer some shelter to 
birds, and also nesting places secure from such of their 
enemies as cannot climb or fly. The cutting over of wood 
lots destroys the breeding places of such birds as nest in 
hollow trees. Apple trees, on the other hand, are allowed 
to stand for a century or more if they still bear profitable 
fruit crops. Many orchard trees are much decayed, as a 
result of neglect or bad pruning, and the dead and hollow 
trunks furnish homes to such birds as once bred in the decay- 
ing trees of the woods. The trees in the orchard also provide 
an abundance of insect food. They are usually planted in 
or near fields or gardens, where many species of insects find 
food and shelter. For these reasons, orchards are much 
frequented by birds. The service rendered by birds in pro- 
tecting the orchard is not, however, as effectual for man’s 
purposes as that given by them to the woodland; for birds 
are the servants of nature, and in planting and cultivating 
the orchard man sets nature at defiance. His object here is 
not the mere growing of trees, but rather the production of 
an improved variety of fruit. Nature’s efforts, on the other 
hand, are put forth mainly to produce such fruit as will 
make for the production and distribution of good seed that 
will insure the propagation of the tree. The fruit grown by 
nature is often considered by man as unfit for food. He 
wants fruit suited to his tastes. The seed is of little value to 
him, for he does not often use it, but propagates the tree of 
his choice by grafting or budding. 
The production of a vastly increased quantity of fruit, of a 
better quality than the natural product, offers an increased 
food supply for the creatures that feed upon that fruit. So 
the planting of large fruit-bearing orchards gives the insects 
