COMMON BIRDS OF TOWN AND COUNTRY 



By HENRY W. HENSHAW 



Formerly Chief of the U. S. Biological Survey 



IVifh Illustrations from Paintings by Louis Agassi:^ Fuertcs 



FROM very ancient times birds have 

 appealed to the interest and imagi- 

 nation of mankind. They have 

 furnished themes for innumerable poets, 

 have appeared in many guises in primi- 

 tive religions, and by their flight inspired 

 the predictions of the soothsayers of old. 

 Even in these modern and prosaic times 

 birds still continue to interest mankind, 

 and the last decade has witnessed a 

 marked strengthening of the sentiment 

 toward them. 



The present interest is direct and per- 

 sonal, and today hundreds of thousands 

 of men and women in various parts of 

 the country, old as well as young, are em- 

 ploying much of their leisure in famil- 

 iarizing themselves with the birds of 

 their respective localities. In following 

 birds afield, in studying their habits, and 

 listening to their songs, they bring them- 

 selves into close touch and sympathy 

 with Nature and add new zest to life — a 

 zest, be it noted, which enriches without 

 harm to any creature. 



Would that the same could be said of 

 the sportsman who almost invariably is 

 at heart a nature lover, though the primi- 

 tive instinct to kill is uppermost. Many 

 sportsmen, however, who formerly fol- 

 lowed wild creatures only to kill, have 

 abandoned the use of rifle and shotgun, 

 and today are finding greater pleasure in 

 studying and photographing their former 

 quarry than they did in pursuing it with 

 murderous intent. A real interest in wild 

 life leads naturally to a love of Nature 

 in all her varied manifestations, and this, 

 in all lands and under all circumstances, 

 remains a source of lasting pleasure. 



A love of birds from the esthetic side, 

 however, is of comparatively recent de- 

 velopment and had little place among 

 primitive peoples, who utilized birds 

 chiclly in two ways — for food and for 

 ornament. Feathers, especially, appealed 

 to them for purposes of adornment, and 



this barbaric taste has not only survived 

 among civilized races, but in recent years 

 has developed to an extent which threat- 

 ens the very existence of many of the 

 most beautiful and notable species of 

 birds in various parts of the world. No 

 region is too remote, no forests too deep, 

 no mountains too high to stay the plume- 

 hunter, stimulated by the golden bribe 

 ofifered by the tyrant Fashion. 



Happily, America has taken the lead 

 in an attempt to restrict this craze for 

 feather adornment, which means nothing 

 less than the death of millions of beauti- 

 ful and useful creatures. Nor are evi- 

 dences wanting that other countries as 

 well have recognized the gravity of the 

 situation and are preparing to pass pro- 

 tective laws similar to those recently 

 enacted in this country. 



BIRDS ARE THE FARMERS' MOST EFFICIENT 

 ALLIES 



While birds appeal to the regard and 

 interest of man from the esthetic side as 

 no other creatures do, there is another 

 and even more important point of view, 

 and it is no doubt true that of late years 

 interest in birds has been greatly stimu- 

 lated by the discovery that they possess 

 an economic value. 



The study of the economic side of 

 bird life and of the relations of birds to 

 the farmer and horticulturist has been 

 greatly stimulated in the United States 

 by Federal aid and supervision, and in no 

 other country in the world have the ac- 

 tivities of birds been so carefully investi- 

 gated with reference to their practical 

 bearing. 



L'nder the Biological Survey of the 

 Department of .Agriculture, for instance, 

 is a corps of trained men. who study the 

 food of birds by careful examination of 

 the stomachs of specimens killed for sci- 

 entific purposes. The information thus 

 gained is supplemented by observations 



