PREFACE 



The point of view from which this book and "Bird Neigh- 

 bors" were written is that of a bird-lover who believes that per- 

 sonal, friendly acquaintance with the live birds, as distinguished 

 from the technical study of the anatomy of dead ones, must be 

 general before the people will care enough about them to rein- 

 force the law with unstrained mercy. To really know the birds 

 in their home life, how marvelously clever they are, and how 

 positively dependent agriculture is upon their ministrations, can- 

 not but increase our respect for them to such a point that wilful 

 injury becomes impossible. 



In Audubon's day flocks of wild pigeons, so dense that they 

 darkened the sky, were a common sight; whereas now, for the 

 lack of proper legislation in former years, and quite as much be- 

 cause good laws now existing are not enforced, this exquisite 

 bird is almost extinct, like the great auk which was also seen by 

 Audubon in colonies numbering tens of thousands. Many other 

 birds are following in their wake. 



England and Germany have excellent laws protecting the 

 birds there in summer, only for the Italians to eat during the win- 

 ter migration. And it is equally useless to have good game and 

 other bird laws in a country like ours, unless they are reinforced 

 in every state by public sentiment against the wanton destruction 

 of bird life for any purpose whatsoever. 



This altruism has a solid foundation in economic facts. It is 

 estimated that the farmers of Pennsylvania lost over four millions 

 of dollars one year through the ravages of field mice, because a 

 wholesale slaughtering of owls had been ignorantly encouraged 

 by rewards the year before. Nature adjusts her balances so wisely 

 that we cannot afford to tamper with them. 



It is a special pleasure to acknowledge indebtedness to Mr. 

 G. O. Shields. To his efforts, as president of the League of 

 American Sportsmen and as editor of Recreation, is due no small 

 measure of the revulsion against ruthless slaughter that has long 



