184 HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. 



of eggs have thus been destroyed, and httle scientific 

 knowledge gained by this manner of study. Not one 

 egg in a thousand was preserved two months ; not many 

 of them that number of days. I have had thousands 

 brought to me by boys for identification. In answer 

 to questions, I more frequently found that the boys had 

 little or no knowledge of the subject, often not knowing 

 what species they had robbed. These eggs were to 

 them as so many marbles, or other toys, trophies, 

 valuable only as objects of barter, but the effects on 

 the bird population were none the less injurious. Many 

 of the older members, claiming to be engaged in the 

 investigation of science, go forth maiming and kiUing 

 their thousands of the commonest birds, those that- 

 every intelligent school-boy knows. What new facts 

 will these people ever give in return for this license ? 

 Our birds have all been identified and described, and a 

 further persecution of them in that direction is selfishly 

 barbarous, and ought not longer to be tolerated. Even 

 all these causes seem dwarfed when compared with the 

 destruction of the birds for millinery and decorative 

 purposes. If the facts connected with this traffic could 

 generally be made known, a thrill of indignation would 

 take possession of every right-minded person, and the 

 community in wrath would demand that the outrage 

 be summarily stopped. 



Unfortunately the killing is carried on surreptitiously, 

 much of it in out-of-the-way places. Those who have 

 investigated the subject know that thousands of men 

 and boys, all over the country, are regularly employed 



