16 T HOE: A UD VU" BiO N 2 BU iia 
by a nuthatch. The trees were entirely free of pests the following year. 
That, multiplied by the millions of warblers and similar feeders, is what is 
taking place every season, and everywhere, city and country, we humans 
are the direct beneficiaries. Services must always be paid for, and there are 
certainly no domestic animals that serve the farmer at so low a cost as do 
the birds. Let us, as we watch and admire our beautiful friends, think 
occasionally of what we owe to them and their*constant search for our 
insect enemies. 
In severe winters birds that remain throughout the year are often 
unable to find food and large numbers die from hunger and exposure. It is 
not the cold that kills them, but lack of food. The birds actually need help 
only when for some reason their natural supply is not to be had. This is 
often the case in winter, especially after heavy snowstorms or sleet. At 
such times pay no attention to the wiseacres who tell us that we are 
“nauperizing the birds’; they might just as well argue against supplying 
food to starving men. Many farmers now make the effort to feed the quail, 
cardinals, downy and hairy woodpeckers, chickadees and others so that they 
may be able to survive to work for them the following spring. 
The work of providing for the needs of wild birds has a wonderfully 
good effect upon the people engaged in it. In the first place it awakens or 
stimulates an interest in an important and fascinating subject, and provides 
for the mental and physical activities an outlet which can lead only to good. 
Through it the coming generation will get practical experience in the 
conservation of our natural resources, and thus, by taking part in a great 
national movement, they will at an early age begin to feel the joy of being 
useful. Most work of a public nature is impractical for children, but here is 
a work in which young people can be almost as useful as older ones and at 
the same time provide for themselves one of the most satisfying hobbies 
known to man. Work for the birds tends to thoughtfulness and considera- 
tion; inasmuch as it is inspired by the work the birds do for us, it encour- 
ages appreciation and gratitude and a sense of justice and fair play; as it 
brings to the worker a sense of the helplessness of his feathered friends at 
certain times, it begets feelings of humanity, kindness, sympathy and com- 
passion; and if some personal sacrifice is required in order to do the work, 
the worker gets practice in unselfishness. If children once learn these things 
they will have made a very fair start toward good citizenship if they are 
not taught anything else. 
Making all allowances for a number of birds whose good deeds are 
offset by bad ones, and for a few which are positively harmful, we see that 
we have working for us a great army of feathered workmen, many of whom 
work for us 3C5 days in the year, without wages and without even the 
necessity for supervision. And when we think that these workmen never 
loaf, never ask for a vacation, and never go on strike, it would seem that 
there should be among all intelligent people the keenest competition for 
their services. They work for their board, and in most cases take that from 
things we are much better off without. 
Chicago, Illinois. 
