Birds in the Garden 
291 
stripped of all their fruit buds. In districts where they are 
troublesome, the trees and bushes may require to be netted 
some time before the buds burst. 
The Blackbird and Thrush.— These act very much 
in the same way, although their chief depredations are 
made on ripe fruit. In small gardens trees may be netted. 
In the spring these birds devour great numbers of slugs, 
and on the whole they do more harm than good. 
The Starling. — The Starling may be considered a 
friend in any garden. In some places special boxes are 
built for it to nest in. It feeds on grubs and other 
enemies of the plants, and should be encouraged instead 
of driven away. It has been known to attack damsons 
and cherries, but its virtues in the garden greatly exceed 
its vices. 
The Cole-tit. — This bird does much damage to Black 
Currant bushes in spring, stripping the leaves and eating 
the young bunches of embryo fruit inside. 
The Blue-tit. — This is a useful bird to the gardener 
and the garden. It will wander about in the trees and 
bushes, picking up any little insect it comes across. 
The Chaffinch. — The Chaffinch is another bird which 
does a considerable amount of damage in the early spring. 
It also devours the larvae of the Ladybird. 
The Owl. — This is among the most useful of birds in 
the garden. It catches and devours large numbers of 
mice, &c. If we had more of these birds about in some 
neighbourhoods we should hear less of damage being done 
to peas, &c., after sowing. The gamekeeper, however, is, 
in most cases, on the lookout for owls, as he rightly — or 
wrongly — imagines they do damage to his young game. 
