OUR HOME BIRDS. 
131 
it is an undoubted fact that if the birds were all 
swept off the face of the earth, man could not live 
upon it ; vegetation would wither and die ; insects 
would become so numerous that no living thing could 
withstand their attacks. 
“ ‘ The plague of Western grasshoppers is supposed 
to be due, in part, to the thinning out of the grouse 
and prairie-hens that were formerly so abundant. 
The inestimable service done to the farmer, gar- 
dener, and florist by the birds is only becoming 
known by sad experience. Spare the birds and 
save your fruit; the little corn and fruit taken by 
them is more than compensated by the quantities 
of noxious insects they destroy. 
“ ‘ The long-persecuted crow has been found by 
actual experiment to do far more good by the vast 
quantities of grubs and insects that he devours than 
the little harm he does in the few grains of corn he 
pulls up. He is one of the farmer's best friends.' " 
