July 
war has been waged upon them by anyone 
so minded; that even now the regulations 
for their protection are very inadequate and 
often violated ; and that many species are 
in danger of extermination from the ruthless 
onslaught upon them and their eggs. In view 
of man’s past and present record, it is not wise 
to add insult to injury by any patronizing 
assumptions.* It is quite as much from the 
growing recognition of their utility, and the 
absolutely indispensable part they play in the 
economy of nature, as from motives of human- 
ity, that mankind is at last coming to havea 
higher regard and to enact more stringent laws 
for their welfare. 
The fact that in extremely rare instances, 
when in great fear, they have sought man’s pro- 
tection, proves only that of two dangers they 
* Before they have learned to be suspicious, their atti- 
tude toward man is often quite the reverse. Travellers in 
remote regions, where man is rarely seen, often report 
finding birds remarkably fearless, and even annoyingly 
familiar. Audubon tells of the Canada jay, which in 
northern forests will frequently eat out of the hands of the 
lumber cutters. I have elsewhere read of a traveller who, 
‘as he sat writing at his table, was irritated as well as 
amused by having a bird run about over the paper and 
pick at every object he saw, and only with difficulty was 
driven away. 
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