d, and members of it live in
almost all parts of the world. All kinds of Finches and Sparrows belong
to it, and so do Grosbeaks and Buntings, as well as the Canaries that we
keep for pets. There are about five hundred and fifty different kinds of
them.

"The birds that you have been studying thus far, from the Bluebird,
Robin, and Wood Thrush to the Tanagers, belong to several different
families and are chiefly insect-eaters, taking various fruits and
berries in season, it is true, but making insects their regular diet.
Insects are not hard for any bird to eat, and so the bills of these
birds do not have to be very stout or thick--some, indeed, are very thin
and weak, like the Brown Creeper's.

"But the habits of the Finch family are quite different, and their beaks
also. They are true seed-eating birds, and their beaks are short, stout,
and thick--cone-shaped it is called, like that of the White-throated
Sparrow you learned about one day. This enables them to crack the
various seeds upon which they live at all times except in the nesting
season, when few seeds are ripe. During this time they eat a variety of
insects, and feed them to the young birds; for young birds must grow so
rapidly, in order to be strong enough for the autumn journey, that they
require more nourishing food than seeds.

"The Finch family being able to live so well upon seed food do not have
to make such long autumn journeys; for even in very cold places there
are plenty of seeds to be had all through the winter."

"Do you mean berries, please, uncle?" said Dodo; "because if it was very
cold wouldn't berries freeze as hard as pebbles?"

"They eat berries, but only as Weed Warriors,--for the seeds that are in
the berries,--not for the juicy, fruity part, as the Seed Sowers do.

"The Robin, Thrush, and Catbird eat fruits and berries for the juicy,
pulpy part. They swallow this, and the seeds or pits pass out with the
wastage of their bodies; this is what makes them Seed Sowers. But when
one of the Finch family eats berries, it is for the seed or pit inside
the pulp. His strong beak cracks the seed and his stomach digests its
kernel. So these birds do not _sow_ the seeds they eat, but _destroy_
them. This is why I call them Weed Warriors. A warrior is any one who
goes to war, and fights against enemies; we have enemies among plants,
and these birds fight for us against them. There are hundreds of
different kinds of plants, whose flowers have no b