Excerpt from The Food of West Virginia Birds Purpose. This bulletin on "The Food of West Virginia Birds" is published for the purpose of giving information concerning the feeding habits of these feathered friends of ours, to the fruit-grower, the grain-producer, the school children of our State, the owners of tracts of woodland and to all who depend for their daily bread upon the products of the soil. This bulletin is not a treatise on economic ornithology, but is a brief study in some of the relationships which our birds sustain to the wild and cultivated fruits, the vegetables and grains and grasses, the weeds and insects that have become our enemies, and the trees and lumber products, and has to do with some of the most vital questions that come before our agricultural communities. All these facts in regard to the food of our birds are given here with the hope that those who read may really know how much good our birds are doing and how carefully they should be protected. The Need. All who have noted the decrease in the numbers of our birds, the increase in the number of harmful insects, the exceeding great difficulties that must be met by those who raise grains, fruits or vegetables, and the attendant high cost of living know that there is need for the protection of birds. The scarcity of birds permits the multiplication of insects and the growth of weeds; these growing weeds hinder the farmers crops and cause him endless labor, while the ever-increasing hordes of noxious insects devour roots, stalks, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds that are produced in his fields; these great difficulties that lessen the production on all our farms add to the cost of all farm and forest products; prices are then much higher, and we all suffer in consequence. There is a great need for the diffusion of knowledge concerning our useful birds and a greater need that such protective measures be adopted that the birds may once more increase and take their place in the plans of nature. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.