Preface 



Again, recollection of what our ancestors 

 thought of birds and beasts, of how at one 

 time they prized and idealized them, may- 

 induce in us, their descendants, some shame 

 at the extermination to which we are consign- 

 ing these lovable but helpless creatures, for 

 temporary gains or sheer brutal love of slaugh- 

 ter. The sordid men who swept from North 

 America the buffalo, the gentlemen who brag 

 of moose and elephants slain, the ladies who 

 demand birds for their hats and will not be 

 denied, the boys who torture poor feathered 

 singers and destroy their nests, are more ruth- 

 less than the primeval barbarians. The latter 

 stayed their hands at times through religious 

 scruples, even though their stomachs might 

 be empty. The marvellous tale of the share 

 birds have had in the making of myth, religion, 

 poetry and legend may do somewhat to soften 

 these flinty hearts and induce men to establish 

 and carry out laws to protect especially the 

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