BIRDS AND THE WEB OF LIFE 417 



No doubt there are signs of a reaction against submitting 

 to an impoverishment of Animate Nature, but there is much 

 to be done. We should try to secure the conservation of 

 more tracts of country in which waning forms of life may 

 be fostered. We should raise a prejudice against " big 

 bags " and ruthless wasteful sport which defeats its own 

 ends. We should abstain from all products which mean 

 the extinction of fine types. We should try to appreciate 

 the seriousness of impending losses, not only in their 

 economic, but in their scientific and aesthetic aspects. 



As on another occasion (1917, p. 124) we conclude by 

 quoting Ruskin's translation of what Socrates said in regard 

 to the halcyon, for it is suggestive of the mood in which 

 we do well to consider these things. 



" Choerophon : And is that indeed the halcyon's cry ? 

 I never heard it yet ; and in truth it is very pitiful. How 

 large is the bird, Socrates ? 



" Socrates : Not great ; but it has received great 

 honour from the gods, because of its lovingness ; for 

 while it is making its nest, all the world has the happy days 

 which we call halcyonidae, excelling all others in their 

 calmness, though in the midst of storm. 



" We being altogether mortal and mean, and neither 

 able to see clearly great things nor small, and for the most 

 part being unable to help ourselves even in our calamities, 

 what can we have to say about the powers of the immortals, 

 either over halcyons or nightingales ? But the fame of 

 fable, such as our fathers gave it to us, this to my children, 

 O thou bird singing of sorrow, I will deliver concerning thy 

 hymns ; and I myself will sing often of this religious and 

 human love of thine, and of the honour thou hast for it 

 from the Gods. 



" Choerophon : It is rightly due indeed, O Socrates, 

 for there is a twofold comfort in this, both for men and 

 women, in their relations with each other. 



" Socrates : Shall we not then salute the halcyon, and 

 so go back to the city by the sands, for it is time ? " 



2. E 



