EARNING A TITLE 11 



with the light of lanterns, club them, and carry 

 them away by bagfuls, as some of our neigh- 

 bours did. He said that such proceedings would 

 eventually end in the extermination of the birds; 

 that God gave us these creatures to enjoy but not 

 to destroy; so he always cautioned all of us, either 

 in hunting or fishing, to be content with a "moder- 

 ate share." The prophecy he then made concern- 

 ing the wild pigeons has found its fulfillment in 

 my day, for a heavy reward has been offered for 

 a number of years past for even one specimen of 

 this beautiful bird, the metallic lustre of whose 

 plumage made a gleam of light when on wing, 

 and whose whistling flight was familiar music in 

 my childhood. These birds now seem to have 

 joined the extinct starlings of lie de la Reunion. 



All of the trees and most of the bushes surround- 

 ing the house were filled with bird nests. A privet 

 bush in one corner of the garden always had at 

 least one nest, while the grape arbour and berry 

 bushes sheltered many. There were little cups 

 of hair even among the currant and gooseberry 

 bushes. Every bird that ever homed in an orchard 

 in the Central States was to be found in the apple 

 trees, in a big heap of trimmings at the back of 

 the orchard, in the hollow rails of the fence, or in 

 the grassy corners of our orchard. I think too 

 that every bird of the fields was to be found in 

 our meadow, our clover fields, and in the fence 

 corners, while the big trees of the woods pasture 



