BIRDS 



wise persecute the birds which are helping us all the 

 time in our fight against the voracious hordes of 

 insects, is a deliberate crime to posterity and a grave 

 moral wrong. 



Is a man morally justified in persecuting, maiming, 

 or killing useful birds because no man-made law is 

 violated ? If we saw a big, strong man persecuting 

 or killing a helpless child we should be aflame with 

 anger or righteous indignation. On the contrary, 

 when we see a man deliberately shoot a helpless little 

 bird friend, we pass by and heed not. The life of a 

 useful insectivorous bird is, or should be, as sacred 

 as the life of a child. 



It is deplorable, but nevertheless true, that a large 

 percentage of people are kept in the path of righteous- 

 ness solely by fear of consequences; hence the necessity 

 for good and sound legislation and machinery for the 

 enforcement of the laws, until such time as the race, 

 as a whole, have advanced to a higher moral and 

 spiritual plane. Before interfering with the marvellous 

 and beautiful scheme of Nature, it behoves man to 

 make careful study and not allow himself to be guided 

 and dominated by his passions, inclinations, and pre- 

 judices. After carefully weighing the evidence, should 

 it be found that any bird, animal, or reptile is, by its 

 actions, hampering the advancement of the human 

 race, then, and not till then, are we morally justified 

 in removing it from the world of the living. When 

 any creature is destroyed which acts as a check on 

 another, the inevitable result is a multiplication of the 

 latter. The destruction of a pair of breeding starlings, 



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