286 WITH THE U. S. NATURALISTS 



"That's how it worked out with me," the boy 

 agreed. 



The other nodded and continued, 



** 'A healthy, normal boy,' Baynes goes on to 

 say, ' is active in mind and body and he must have 

 an outlet for both kinds of activity. He'd much 

 sooner have a live bird perched on his hand than 

 a dead one in his pocket, but unless his parents or 

 guardians teach him how to get the live one, he '11 

 probably take a gun and come back with a dead 

 one. 



" 'Get him an interesting bird book or two and 

 let him learn something about birds. Take him 

 to an illustrated lecture on birds occasionally. 

 Arrange, if you can, to have him meet the man 

 who wrote the book or gave the lecture. Both the 

 writer and the lecturer may be far too busy to talk 

 to a man, but if they're of the right kind, they'll 

 seldom be too busy to encourage a boy or answer 

 his questions.' 



''Probably you know better, Shan, but there are 

 a great many people who imagine that birds need 

 no protection, that there were birds in the world 

 before the human race and that they will continue 

 indefinitely. Because they flit brightly from place 

 to place, because their songs are cheerful to our 



