84 Birds Every Child Should Know 
bearing trees and shrubs. The birds themselves 
plant most of the wild ones, by dropping the 
undigested berry seeds far and wide. How 
could the seeds of many species be distributed 
over thousands of miles of land without their 
help? If will surprise you to count the number 
of trees about your home that have been 
planted, quite unconsciously, by birds many 
years before you were born. Cedarbirds are 
responsible for no small part of the beauty of 
the lanes and hedgerows throughout their wide 
range from sea to sea and from Canada to 
Mexico and Central America. Nature, you see, 
makes her creatures work for her, whether 
they know they are helping her plans or not. 
When a flock of cedarbirds enters your 
neighbourhood, there is no noisy warning of 
their coming. Gentle, refined in manners, 
courteous to one another, almost silent visitors, 
they will sit for hours nearly motionless in a 
tree while digesting a recent feast. An occa- 
sional bird may shift his position, then, politely 
settling himself again without disturbing the 
rest of the company, remain quiet as before. 
Lisping, Twee-twee-zee call notes, like a hushed 
whispered whistle, are the only sounds the 
visitors make. How different from a roving 
flock of screaming, boisterous blue jays ! 
When rising to take wing, the squad still 
keeps together, flying evenly and swiftly in 
