“If we destroyed the birds, we ourselves could not live. Within a few years there would be so many insects and worms that crops could not be raised and plants could not grow. The bugs and the caterpillars would eat all the leaves off the trees, while the worms would destroy the roots.
“The flies and other harmful insects would kill the cattle. And then they would carry sickness and disease among us.
“Why, the grasshoppers would dance on our very tables, while the crickets sat on the dishes and played tunes!
“The ants would use our kitchens for parade grounds, and the worms would crawl under our feet, in our houses.
“Yet you said that the birds were your enemies, and that they do only harm.
“You complained of the robins and the bluebirds; the kingbirds and the brown thrashers; the bobolinks and the meadow larks; the crows and the blackbirds.
“So I have taken pains to look into the habits of each of these.
“The robin, I find, works during the whole season to make it possible for the farmer to raise his crops. He is a natural enemy of bugs and worms.
“He gets no pay for this work and asks for none. And the only reason he eats your cherries is because you have destroyed the wild fruit trees and berry bushes that used to grow by the roadside. Plant them there again and the robin, and all the other birds too, will spare your fruit.