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Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 226, 20 June 1936, Page 25

Dear Boys and Girls, — Every morning when 1 wake up there is a host of little feathered creatures waiting to be fed with breadcrumbs, suet and tasty scraps. Mostly they are sparrows, and sometimes a visiting partv of greeneyes (come also to feed on the blight that covers the apple trees at this-time), and there are greedy, gobbling starlings, and thrushes and yellow-billed blackbirds. It is becoming harder for them to find insects as the cold weather increases, and therefore it is important that somebody remembers to feed them with all the spare breadcrumbs. We must remember that if it was not for the birds, our gardens and forests would be over-run with insect pests and blights, and soon we would have nothing left to live on, nothing left to eat! Talking of birds, it reminds me of a beautiful story about seagulls. It was in Utah, in the United States of America, in May, 1848. The inhabitants of this State, totalling 1700 people, had planted many thousands of acres with wheat and rye, their only supply of food. But, alas, in the middle of that month hosts of crickets came down upon their State, devouring all the vegetation before them as they came. Everybody attacked the insects with shovels and sticks, and every effort was made to stop the progress of the pests, but it was of no use. All their hopes for a harvest vanished, and the people faced famine. When they were in the depths of despair, suddenly the sky became over-clouded with seagulls. They alighted in the fields, and. the people despaired more than ever, for they thought the birds had come to assist in the destruction. But to the people’s amazement, as they watched, the gulls devoured the insects, disgorging then at nearby streams, and coming back for more. The work of the birds continued for nearly a week; the crickets disappeared, and the birds returned to the lake. Twice after this the settlers faced famine from the same cause, and the gulls twice returned to assist them. Out of gratitude to God, and to honour the birds, a famous and beautiful Seagull Monument was erected, perhaps the only monument to birds in the world. But the birds are saving us from smaller and similar plagues of insects every day—even the roguish sparrow deserves his share of praise, and so surely it is a small way of showing our gratitude to our feathered friends if we remember to feed them every morning in the winter, when there are few pests left for them to gobble up! They will repay you by becoming guile tame, and perhaps making friends with you. KIWI.