On the Ethics of Caging Birds 



BY OLIVE THORNE MILLER 



EFORE saying a few words on this subject, I 



should Hke to define my position. With all my 



heart do I disapprove of caging wild birds. I 



never had, and never shall have, the liberty of one 



bird interfered with for my pleasure or study, and if 



I had the power to prevent it, not one should ever 



be caged. Especially do I regard it as cruel in the extreme 



to confine an adult bird, accustomed to freedom and able to 



¥ take care of himself. 



The question of "rights" we will not enter upon here, further 

 than to say that our moral right to capture wild creatures for our 

 own use or pleasure is the same in the case of birds as of other 

 animals — horses, for example. 



But birds arc caged, and we must deal with circumstances as we 

 find them. If a bird -lover should worry and fret himself to death, 

 he could not put an end to their captivity. So it would appear to 

 be the part of wisdom to see if there are not mitigating circum- 

 stances, which may comfort, and perhaps, in a slight degree, even 

 reconcile one to their imprisonment. 



The case of Canaries is different from that of all others. 

 Hatched in cages, descended from caged ancestry, and accustomed 

 to be cared for by people, they know no other life, and are utterly 

 unfitted for freedom. So far from being a kindness to set one of 

 these birds free, it is absolute cruelty. It is like turning a child, 

 accustomed to a luxurious life, into the streets, to pick up a living 

 for himself. 



But a young bird, taken from the nest before he has learned 

 the use of his wings, I believe, can be made perfectly contented and 

 happy in a house — if he is properly cared for ! 



It is unfortunately true that not one in a thousand is properly 

 cared for, but we are not considering the shortcomings of people. 

 At this moment we are considering the possibility of making a bird's 

 life happy. 



For several years I kept birds in captivity, and closely studied 

 their ways and their characters, and I say, without hesitation, that 

 most birds can be made so contented and happy that they will prefer 



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