The bird is not only our brother--he is far more. He is our
benefactor, our preserver, for the simple reason that he alone
is able to hold in check the most powerful race on earth--the
insects. It is well known to scientific men that the insect
tribes, unchecked, would control the earth. Innumerable,
multiplying with a rapidity that defies figures and even
comprehension, devouring everything that has, or has had, life,
from the vegetable to the man, and living but to eat, these
myriads would soon, if left to themselves, reduce our planet to
a barren wilderness, uninhabitable by man or beast.--OLIVE
THORNE MILLER, “The Bird Our Brother.”
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