318 ILLINOIS STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



and spoiling a great deal more fruit than they require for food ; a prac- 

 tice which we have had occasion to notice but little, here at the North, 

 but which is said to be a cause of serious damage in the fruit regions 

 farther south. 



With respect to the first class, or those which are merely annoying, 

 or slightly injurious, the shooting or otherwise destroying them can not 

 be justly regarded as otherwise than wanton cruelty. Their beauty, their 

 songs, the animation they give to the landscape, the general harmlessness 

 of their characters, and, finally, their undoubted usefulness during the 

 greater part of the year, ought to ensure them from harm. 



But what course shall we take with regard to those birds which, 

 either from their numbers or their peculiar propensities, are seriously 

 detrimental to our interests ? Supposing that it has been found, or that 

 it may hereafter be found, that, owing the depredations of certain birds, 

 it is impossible to raise some one or more of our standard fruits, or other 

 crops ; there can be no doubt that the species of birds causing this damage 

 would have to be placed in the same category with noxious insects. It 

 would be true of both, that, though useful in the general economy of 

 nature, their injuriousness had come to surpass their usefulness, and their 

 numbers might, therefore, require to be diminished. But there are some 

 ardent admirers of birds who can not bring themselves to admit that, in any 

 case which will be likely to arise, it will become either desirable or safe 

 to destroy any considerable number of their favorites; and they cite, in 

 corroboration of their position, those cases which are on record in some 

 of the European countries where, at certain times, the practice of killing 

 small birds has extensively prevailed ; and where, in consequence, the 

 country has been overrun by destructive insects, and to such an extent 

 that the national authorities have been compelled to interfere, and not 

 only forbid the killing of small birds, under severe penalties, but have, in 

 some instances, taken measures to re-introduce them from neighboring 

 countries. 



Such historical facts as these furnish an admirable proof of the gen- 

 eral utility of birds, and of the folly, as well as the cruelty, of their 

 indiscriminate destruction ; but they constitute no argument against the 

 occasional diminution of particular species, should this become necessary. 

 The killing of small birds in some parts of Europe, especially Germany 

 and Italy, has been done by the poorer class of peasantry, for the purpose 

 of supplying their families with a small pittance of animal food, which 

 they were unable otherwise to procure, and the destruction of birds by 

 them has, therefore, been general and indiscriminate ; whereas, in abating 

 the damage done by birds to the farmer or the horticulturist, it is not 

 expected to be necessary to wage warfare upon but a few species, and 

 that these will require to be diminished only, and not exterminated. 



It must be a source of gratification to the lovers of birds, and this 

 embraces all of us in a greater or less degree, that the number which it 

 is supposed it may become necessary to reduce is so small, being limited 

 to less than half a dozen species ; and I do not wish to be understood as 

 advocating the destruction even of these. My object is to present some 



