The Portland daily press., 1895-08-19
SAVE TIE BIRDS.
Awful Destruction Which is Wrought
Among Them by Boys.
pose.
Boston Traveller.

Boston Traveller.
Supt. Forbush of the Gypsy moth com
mission is an ardent lover of birds and
has made study of them for number
of years, occupying the position as orni-
thologist at the Clark College at Worces-
ter previous to his connection with the
State Board of Agriculture some five
years ago.
In conversation with TRAVELLER re-
porter the other day, Mr. Forbush dis
coursed quite eloquently on the feathered
tribe of Massachusetts,, and gave very
interesting account of the manner in
which the birds have helped the moth
commission in keeping down the dreaded
pest since its inception in this part of
the world.
There is no doubt that birds eat enor-
nous quantities of not only the tent cater
pillar, but nearly every other insect that
lays waste the trees and the vegetation
and there should be every effort made to
encourage these birds in building about
the houses in the suburban districts
Every year" he said, 81 place out on
the trees where all the birds can get at
them easily, strings, waste, and other sub
stances that the birds build their nests of,
and during the winter 1 also feed quite a
number of the snow birds and others that
stay most of that season in northern lati-
tudes with suet and meat, keeping them
about the no use and when spring comes
they nearly all build in the neighborhood.
Out in Medford where I live, there are
number OF cherry trees which would
attract the birds if it were not for The fact
that there are also two or three mulberry
trees very near, and you can't get robin
to touch cherry when there are null
berries within sight.
/ would therefore suggest that ii the
farmers had one or two OF these trees near
their homes they would not suffer so
much from the birds getting into their
small fruits.
At the beginning of the season there
were within half a mile of my house in
Medford 80 birds nests of nearly every
variety that are prevalent in this part of
the country. The birds had nearly all of
them been helped by the strings, etc. :,
that 1 had placed for them about my
house, and in the last week in May about
every one of them had gotten fairly to
work setting on the eggs AT this time
l was constantly engaged in the Gypsy
moth work and could not look after the
birds as l might have if / had been at
home every day. But on Sunday. the list
of June, / made tour of these 80 nests
Out of the whole number there were
only three that remained intact; for every
one of the 30 had been robbed by boys
just think of it, 30 out of 80 nests, each
with four or five eggs in them, which is
the course of month would have sent
out at least 100 hungry young birds, Will
fifty more to follow in another month,
completely ruined How can we hope tC
rid the country of all these pests II the
fathers and mothers encourage their sons
to go about robbing birds nests in ordel
to make up collectin of birds eggs tha
lasts them about a year. People in Massa
chusetts have no idea of the tremendou
amount of good that the birds do, ant
neither have they any idea of the awfu
destruction which these boys accomplish
in one short month. 1t has been the Gus