July 



war has been waged upon them by anyone 

 so minded; that even now the regulations 

 for their protection are very inadequate and 

 often violated ; and that many species are 

 in danger of extermination from the ruthless 

 onslaught upon them and their eggs. In view 

 of man's past and present record, it is not wise 

 to add insult to injury by any patronizing 

 assumptions.* It is quite as much from the 

 growing recognition of their utility, and the 

 absolutely indispensable part they play in the 

 economy of nature, as from motives of human- 

 ity, that mankind is at last coming to have a 

 higher regard and to enact more stringent laws 

 for their welfare. 



The fact that in extremely rare instances, 

 when in great fear, they have sought man's pro- 

 tection, proves only that of two dangers they 



* Before they have learned to be suspicious, their atti- 

 tude toward man is often quite the reverse. Travellers in 

 remote regions, where man is rarely seen, often report 

 finding birds remarkably fearless, and even annoyingly 

 familiar. Audubon tells of the Canada jay, which in 

 northern forests will frequently eat out of the hands of the 

 lumber cutters. I have elsewhere read of a traveller who, 

 as he sat writing at his table, was irritated as well as 

 amused by having a bird run about over the paper and 

 pick at every object he saw, and only with difficulty was 

 driven away. 



215 



