6o Bird - Lore 



features upon which they depend. . . . When one comes to love an animal 

 or a group of animals, he is in no position to draw scientific conclusions regard- 

 ing it. For this reason bird enthusiasts are not always to be trusted. (Intro- 

 duction of the English Sparrow into this country, for example.) Mistaken and 

 sentimental ideas cause the killing of many useful animals and the protec- 

 tion of many noxious ones." (Snakes, skunks, shrews and centipedes are 

 examples of useful animals which are ruthlessly killed wherever found.) 



This arraignment of a sentimental conception of nature is closed by the 

 significant caution that with regard to the actual relations of the living world 

 about us, "the complexity of the problem demands careful study and con- 

 servative action." 



This is not the place to amplify the statements quoted or to defend the 

 principle of bird-protection and the methods used to obtain it. It is the place, 

 however, to emphasize the need of a clear, unprejudiced view of nature in 

 general and of birds in particular, and to put forward a plea for a "back to 

 nature" attitude in teaching or presenting publicly the facts about the world 

 in which we, together with many other animals and living things, are placed. 

 By a "back to nature" attitude is meant studying at first-hand not only birds 

 but all that goes to make up their world and our world, the simple method of 

 natural history as exemplified by Gilbert White and John James Audubon. 

 We are not all scientists or even students, but we may all become careful and 

 broad-minded observers, who see more than birds when afield, and beyond 

 the present when considering measures of conservation. 



The reports of the State and National Audubon Societies for 1913 show 

 that the time has come when nature-study will not much longer be kept out 

 of public or private schools through indifference or misapprehension of our 

 motives. Now is the time to prove the intrinsic value of this study, by helping 

 teachers and educators to grasp it in a broad, sane way, not as a pleasing or 

 entertaining form of instruction, although this it surely is, but as the basis 

 of natural history, and later, of biology and other sciences along specialized 

 lines. 



Some of the encouraging signs of the times are; first, that the demand for 

 our work is apparent on every hand, and second, that criticisms of our aims 

 and methods come from quarters of scientific research, indirectly interested 

 in helping us deal with the subjects of birds and bird-protection in a funda- 

 mental way. 



II 



The yearly record of the work done by our State Societies and National 

 Association and the plans for future efi'ort therein outlined, offer so many 

 suggestions worthy of our careful attention that it may not be out of place to 

 mention a few especially encouraging points; and first, let us notice that the 

 quotation from Mr. Dutcher's report of 1909, made by Mr. Pearson, to the 



