142 OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS. 
them. Sick people can sit in the sunshine or in the 
shade and study the birds, and grow stronger as well 
as wiser. 
There are some strange collections of birds to be 
found in milliners’ shops. ‘The milliners are not to 
blame for these, for if good and kind people did not 
want any out of their collection, they would not keep 
so many. 
Sometime on your way home from school, if your 
mother is not wanting to see you early, look in at these 
show windows and see the collections we are speaking 
of. These birds are sold to foolish women and girls, 
and worn to church and everywhere else on hats and 
bonnets. 
See how distressed the poor dead creatures seem to 
be, — how they are twisted all out of shape. They are 
made to squat or perch in positions that make them 
look as if they were in agony. Not one of them all 
has a natural, happy look, because the people who put 
.them up to sell have never loved the birds nor studied 
their ways. All they care about is the money they can 
get for them. 
You will notice that some of the birds in ladies’ bon- 
nets have been cut in two. Sometimes just the head 
and wings are to be seen. If these ladies stopped to 
see what they were doing, and to think of how ridicu- 
lous they look, they would never wear these ornaments, 
just like savages. 
Many of the birds that are very rare and beautiful 
