Aug. 1888.] 



Al^D OOLOGIST. 



127 



piuatioii of tlieileliciioios as would make a Soyci- 

 jjieeii with envy. Tliat utterly despised ai)d 

 filthy foreignei, the <;ainin ot of the liiid world, 

 tliat gutter oleaner of our highways, that biid 

 outeast wliieh shuns the bright, beautiful fields 

 to build aiul nestle wliere grim and soot is 

 Ihiekest, who finds his piece, de reslstawe in 

 the garbage heaps and his lidiiHe biiiiche on the 

 pavement —the ICnglish Sparrow. Is it not 

 unfortunate that the faet that this great food 

 supply h.as been overlooked so long? \\h» can 

 measure the innnense benelit that is so sure to 

 be realized when the ( (lunnonwealth is thor- 

 oughly awakened to the fact that it has Ij(m u 

 loiterin". To be sure under the beiietiicnt in- 

 fluence of our great VU\\ and (lame Comnds- 

 sioners its citizens have bei'n able for years to 

 eat and enjoy half decomposed (Jrouse, Quail, 

 Duck, Woodcock, Snipe and I'lover that have 

 been months in a cold stoiage waichouse; the 

 flesh sodden, the feathers ami skin so near pu- 

 trefaction that no plucking is necessary to 

 denude the body, a simple uipe nl ihe hand 

 taking both ofT eflectually, and it will biMiefit 

 the Protective Societies who don't believ<' in 

 killing game in close time in Massachusetts, 

 but yet don't object to eating it provided some 

 one will declare that il had the eai- marks of 

 another Stale. 



X(jii-, all that is necessary is f.o gun for 

 Spjirrows at any time of the year, iherc^ need 

 lie no excuse for any <ine not having a " hiid 

 and a bottle" pi'ovided he can muster funds 

 for the bottle, birds are plentiful enough. 

 And then it will be so like la belle France, you 

 know. There anything clothed with feathers 

 is declared delicacy. .lohniiy Crapeau will 

 hunt as indefatigably Im- a puor little half 

 starve<i titmouse as our mighty hunter of the 

 Commission ever did for the game he w.as :ifter 

 in fifteen states. Of course the lillle urchin 

 who is gimuiug for Knglish Spariows won't 

 shoot our Song Sparrows, Hobius, Bluebirds or 

 any of the native birds that the ornithologist 

 makes war on. (»b, no, lie \\\\l be laught by 

 this new school of gastronomy lh.it our Chip- 

 pies, liobins and the like are not food birds, they 

 sing, and theii- whole diet, when there are no 

 fruit or berries, is of an insei^ivorous n.iture, 

 and of course they wdo'i be sboi. 



The only thing w Inch appears to lie lacking 

 in tlie report upon lliis ipi.^siiun is, we ai'e given 

 no directions as to wild her ilic liiid should be 

 huiled, hriiih'd or Imi'il, wbelliei' hi lie seived a 

 la Fra)tCiiise, au intliinl, head, feet and tail 

 feathers, trussed and lai'ded, with .iinice piquant, 

 what brand Ihe boltle should wear, and all 



al- 



these little details which a rlicf de cuisine a 

 ways notes. 

 The naturalists of Massachusetts are not a 

 ,......,<ii-okir ..I. ICC flievr iliir :ind (lelve III their 



n their inveslig.ations ill a.. .-- 

 ner, and it seems for no other purpose than 

 that some interested parties may make a little 

 ephemeral notoriety and pocket about $700 a 

 year each, tor services and expenses that do 

 not benefit the state one penny. 'I'liey have 

 suftered long and patienll> and they propose 

 by all honoi'able means in their power to bring 

 about a change from the jiresent execution ot 

 the law. They do not believe that the legisla- 

 tive biainli of the state government ever con- 

 templated creating an autocracy or placing it in 

 the power of any one, two, or tbici- men to 



thwart any student of nalure liy i pelling 



him to break the law or gi\c up his sludies. 

 They feel very confident of llieir aliilily to 



demonstrate the untitness of llie pi-esiMit C - 



missiouers for the positiiui they occupy should 

 it be necessary, even now to a great many who 

 do not claim to lie naturalists, it is a self evident 

 fact. 



While not so directly interested in the pro- 

 tection of lish .iMil game we propose in some 

 future issue to present some matters of interest 

 in that line to our readers. 



Spiteful. 



A special town meeting was called at Chat- 

 ham, Mass., last moiilli, .nid Ihe Selectini'ii 

 were inslrncted |o lake measures to ]iieveiit 

 a certain parly from shooting on (hat- 

 ham Kbits. I'"rom oiir correspondent we lind 

 the ;)■(((- t/("'((n/y/i'.« is Ihal Cliatbaiii dciives a 

 yearly income from siioilsmen " who put up at 

 hotels," and they fear llial if any one lociites 

 to windward it will interfere. 'I'lnrc is iml mie 

 iiila of hire I'm- the Idir m- birds in the move, 

 It is simply, WK want tiik I'..\ktii. This is 

 not the lii>t timi' our attention has been called 

 to what we lielieve to be a spiteful ijersecnliim 

 in that seetion. We will w.ilrb the mo\i' in 

 that ipi.irter, and let our i-eadeis know the 

 probabilities of being obliged to wear in Ihe 

 hat a ticket, " That ginger pop and cig.irettes 

 were bought at our cottage hotel," in order to 

 shoot on < 'ape Cod beach. 



