Page:Bird-lore Vol 06.djvu/101

 74 Bird - Lore

height of forest trees, up through alders, bayberry, bal'berry. dogtvootis, white birches, cedars, to choke- and black cherries of tree size, is of greater importance to bird-life than the forest trees themselves. Yet the man who will rightly hesitate to fell a decrepit elm because it harbors the Baltimore Oriole or a Robin or two in high erorthes, will tllmlghtlessly order the wholesale Clearing of some brush lot with its pointed cedars, through which perhaps a little water-course wends its way, and in so doing dislodge the homes of a bevy ot Yellolvrthroats, Chats, In :1 i g (rb i rd 5 . Thrashers, Catbirtls, Redwings. etc., be~ sides drying up the water—course and fatally interfering with the cover and food-supply of our winter residents, even including the game-birds.

We make resolutions everytime that spring retouches us with its magic and the spirit of forestry whispers to plant more trees to shade our water-courses, more trees to intervene between ourselves and the sun, more trees to yield shelter and food to the birds, in foliage, fruit, and bark crevices; and it is good to plant, but better yet to refrain from destroying. The tree or bush we plant may or may not be suitable to the location and grow, that which we destroy has already proved itself by ﬂourishing. and we may judge of its merit by experience Also the responsibility ot replanting and introducing perhaps new species at wild fruits into a locality is almost as great as that of importing new species of birds. For instance, the black wild-cherry lPrunuJ rem/inn) of the nlldtlle states, growing in bushy clumps when headed back, but, lelt alone. growing to be a large tree,is afashion- able sunime'r resort for birds of high and low degree tor six weeks or so, when they collect from far and wide to take a course of its lruit in all states at ripeness and unripe- ness.

One would naturally think it a tree to be planted freely in time of need, even as the birds themselves slow it freely, win the un- digested stones of the cherries they swallow. Instead of which, it is a species doubly to be avoided in the ﬁrst place, it harbors the unsightly nest of the tent-caterpillar, one of

the greatest blots on the wayside landscape, and. secondly, it is highly dangerous to a cattle-grazing country or for the home pasture. as the leaves eaten when wit/12nd, owing to the prussic acid in them. will de- stroy cattle by a sort of paralysis of the lungs. and as the species is prone to he wind-broken on slight provocation, the ex- tent of its mischief can be easily estimated.

Alders (or screening. the ﬂowering dog— wood and magnolias (whose berries are he» loved of the Hermit Thrush), grapewines, black eurrants, and the hardiest varieties of raspberries and blackberries are all safe things to plant near tumble-down walls if there is a sufﬁcient depth of soil. The white»ﬂow- ering elder, with its flat clusters of rich juicy berries, will ﬂourish in any dampspot, as will also the winterberry (Iltx wrtin‘l- Iain), while the Chinese honeysuckle and the Virginia creeper should be scattered

broadcast for the sake of their berries.

One tree there is that should be regarded as a thing sacred, like the oak, and equally protected~the red Cedar, which, like the red man himself, retreats before cultivation and is almost implantable. Its closely twigged branches make it impervious to storm and offer a ﬁne winter roost, and its purplish berries with the hoary bloom yield li ‘ng rations when all below is frozen and inaccessible—nay more. when laid low by storms its very broken branches are in themselves a L'in of refuge. To a fallen cedar top, meshed with vines and lying neara tumble-dawn wall of an empty farm, was I in debt last year for the joyof having a pair of Carolina Wrens and their two broods for neighbors. But alas! what will happen if the new purchaser of the land ‘improves’ his back fenceP—M. 0. We

National Committee Notes in Till CIIAIIMAN

"Or what man is there of you, whom, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? " Two months since, the Chairman asked for promises of aid in the important matter of incorporation of the National Audubon Committee, in order that it might be in a position to appeal to the public for