REASONS WHY 55 
season; so pray ask your father to put only powder, a 
‘blank cartridge,’ as it is called, in the gun, that it may 
give the birds warning to keep off, but not kill them; and 
let him save all the bullets and shot for the Coward 
Crow, himself a nest robber, the Great Horned Owl, the 
Hen and Chicken Hawks, and the English Sparrow. 
“In the short stories that I am going to read or tell you 
of the birds, I will try to speak of the chief food of each, 
so that you may put a good mark beside its name in your 
memory, and try to realize that these birds, beautiful as 
many are, still have a deeper claim upon you. I wish you 
to see that they, as well as you, are citizens of this great 
Republic and do their part for the public good, which, 
next to the care and love of home, should be the chief 
ambition of us all, men or women. 
““The wise men know this and they have made laws to 
protect the birds and other animals from cruelty and 
destruction, just as they have made laws to protect all 
other citizens. Listen to what your state forbids you to 
do, — to the laws that if you break you must and should 
be punished : — 
WARNING! WHAT THE LAW OF YOUR STATE SAYS ABOUT 
SONG-BIRDS 
“No person shall kill, catch, or have in possession, living 
or dead, at any time, any wild bird other than a game- 
bird, nor any part thereof, except the English Sparrow, 
Crow, Great Horned Owl, or the Hawks, other than the 
Osprey or Fish Hawk. No person shall take, destroy, 
or disturb, or have in possession the nest or eggs of any 
