216 GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS 
“These birds, even though a couple of them are cousins 
to the Woodcock, are so small of body (their long wing 
in flight giving a deceptive idea of their size) that their 
flesh is of no account, save to either the starving, who are 
bound by no laws, or the glutton seeking for an article of 
food to whet a jaded palate, like the old emperors of 
Rome who ate nightingale’s tongues, forsooth! We do 
not wish to breed or encourage such barbarians in our 
America. At the same time, these birds have great value 
in their insect-eating capacity.” 
“Pop says they always used to shoot Meadowlarks 
when he was a boy, and up to not very long ago,’ said 
Tommy, “and Yellowhammers and Pigeons and Doves 
and Robins, too, but now nobody dares, except on the sly. 
Anyway. the Wild Pigeons grandfather tells of are all gone, 
and I’ve only seen a couple of Doves this year.” 
“The birds you speak of are now protected by law, here 
in Connecticut,’’ said Gray Lady, “though in some states 
they are not, but the game-birds I mean are the little 
Killdeer Plover, and the Upland and other small Plovers, 
together with the Sandpipers, both of fresh and salt 
water.” 
