294 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. 



view-point they are not unlike seaweed thrown upon a beach or 

 a muck-pit on a farm. They all have a real value if utilized, 

 though none of them are absolutely essential to a fair crop. 

 It is not less a sign of thrift when a farmer tries to get the 

 most out of the birds about him than it is when he tries to 

 get the most out of his bog or beach. It is true, birds will 

 work to his betterment though he ignore them, while such 

 resources as muck and seaweed yield nothing without his 

 attention. But it is not less true that intelligent effort is as 

 sure of reward in bird-husbandry as it is when applied to 

 resources that are wholly potential without such effort. 



No prudent farmer will leave the birds out of his plans. 

 He will attract them by ministering to their needs. In his 

 dealings with them he will be guided by the same motives that 

 direct his actions towards his domestic animals. His cattle and 

 his poultry are fed, housed, and slaughtered, all for his per- 

 sonal benefit. So long as his animals are more profitable liv- 

 ing than dead, he cares for them ; when they are fit for market, 

 or vicious, he kills them as unhesitatingly as he has nurtured 

 them. There is no reason why this same sort of management 

 should not be applied to birds. An unprofitable oriole should 

 be killed as promptly as an unprofitable sheep. But sheep 

 are not slaughtered for their sins or their infirmities so long as 

 they are of more value living than dead. We do not kill our 

 animals for faults we can correct. The flower-loving house- 

 wife fences round her posy-bed, covers it with brush, or even 

 applies socks to the feet of the chronic scratchers among her 

 fowls sooner than take off their heads for unearthing seeds. 

 When birds are turned away from marauding by some harm- 

 less device, not only are their lives spared for good work in 

 the future, but they are often turned to better business at the 

 moment. 



In the study of ways and means for preventing the depre- 

 dations of birds, their ordinary utility should never be lost 

 sight of. That should be the basis upon which all plans for 



