A Bird Friend 



By FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



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/^fcj^v: \ "j^ 7"^ doubtless all have our fav- 



)rites among the birds, and 

 n most cases, it would prob- 

 ably be found that our especial fondness 

 for a particular species has resulted from 

 some response on its part to our advances. 

 The Chickadee has won a place for itself 

 in the heart of every one who knows it, 

 not through its charm of song or beauty 

 of dress, but through the quaint little 

 personality its familiarity has permitted 

 us to have a glimpse of. The bird actu- 

 ally seems to notice us; we are some- 

 thing more than objects to be afraid of, 

 and a glance from its shining, intelligent 

 eye suggests possibilities of companion- 

 ship which we grasp at eagerly. The 

 death of a bird with which we have estab- 

 lished delightful relations of this kind 

 passes the bounds of abstract bird de- 

 struction and becomes a murder which 

 we would gladly avenge. 



So I feel, at least, toward the murder- 

 ers, unfortunately unknown, of the Barred 

 Owls, which, as long as I can remember, have inhabited a certain woods near my 

 home. Rarely did they fail to answer my call, and even when there was no response 

 I felt assured of tlieir presence, and found pleasure in the mere knowledge of it. 

 If there had been any real reason for kiUing them, any crime justif3dng their 

 death warrant, I should feel their loss less keenly, but they were shot as a test 

 of markmanship and as wantonly, perhaps even more wantonly, than if I were 

 to shoot at the automobilists whirring by, simply to see if I could hit them. 



There is a certain rarely uttered scream of the Barred Owl which raises 

 the hair and stops the heart-beat for a moment of those who, even with a clear 

 conscience, hear it, and if from time to time it could echo in the dreams of the 

 murderer of my Barred Owls, I should feel that in a small measure, at least, 

 he was reaping as he had sowed. 



An appeal to sentiment alone will doubtless not win for other Barred Owls 

 that right to live which is the privilege of all law-abiding citizens, but that such 

 a j)rivilege is their due may be gathered from the appended photographic state- 

 ment of their value to mankind. 



A BARRED OWL 

 From a drawing by 



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