62 BULLETIN No. 36 



in view, appeals to a slugglish legislature in behalf of the birds, 

 while the fair contingent of some Audubon Society touches the 

 susceptible heart of some blond-haired member with a prayer 

 for her feathered friends. 



At the last session of the Georgia Legislature (November, 

 1900), a bill was introduced for the protection of singing birds, 

 but it met an untoward fate, and its head dropped into the 

 basket of the executioner. 



The term "singing bird" was misleading, and its definition 

 too ponderous for the average mind of Georgia's most august 

 body, over which the shade of Daniel Webster had never fallen. 

 Some of the members voted against the bill, claiming that the 

 title "singing bird" was not complete in its meaning, ihat som.e 

 birds might be killed through ignorance, without any intentional 

 violation of the law. A compromise was made, however, and 

 a bill passed for the protection of Mockingbirds, 



How well this law is being enforced can be better under- 

 stood by listening to the familiar chirp of the young Mocker 

 whose cage hangs in front of most any Italian's fruit stand in 

 Atlanta. 



The honesty of purpose of the many young women who 

 have championed the cause of the birds cannot be too highly 

 commended, but they, like their male admirers, are carrying 

 their war of "protection " too far in one direction. Occasion- 

 ally one finds an article in a magazine or newspaper touching 

 upon the devastation of our forests, and without any undue 

 display of sentiment the writer pleads for the preservation of 

 the trees. One does not have to look very far ahead to see in 

 the destruction of these grand old landmarks the gradual but 

 certain extermination of the birds. 1 have been thoroughly 

 convinced that the clearing of the large tracts of timbered lands 

 and the draining of marshes and other low places, has had a 

 marked tendency towards driving the birds from their former 

 haunts and feeding grounds. The reaching out in all directions 

 of our extensive system of trolley lines from the cities to the 

 country beyond, thereby increasing the population as well as 

 enlarging the area of every surburban town, has played no 

 insignificant part in the " great drama " of bird life. 



