BIRDS OF THE WEST 17 



of mankind and personal adornment that calls for innocent life 

 will be despised by the daughters of those who think to steal re- 

 flected beauty from a pretty bird. It is "Mothers causing the 

 death of mothers" and for the sake of vanity. Public sentiment 

 is fast shaping itself and the woman who jauntily tosses her plumes 

 to the breezes with the vain thought that she has a pretty face, will 

 soon learn that enlightened sentiment is thinking about her thought- 

 lessness or her heartlessness. Shoot birds if you must but shoot 

 them with a camera or level a pair of opera glasses at them. You 

 will not be violating either a written or an unwritten law by doing 

 so. You will find the pursuit as fascinating and the results more 

 lasting. You will find therein an appeal to your better nature. The 

 days when wild life was valued only for food and raiment have 

 passed with barbarous races. 



You should never shoot even the game birds in the springtime. 

 Why? Because your only justification can be that they are needed 

 for food, which is rarely true. As a rule spring shooting is only 

 to satisfy a desire to kill which masquerades under the name of 

 sport. As for song birds they should never be killed. 



If any birds are needed for food, it is well to know that those 

 that migrate are thin and tough from long flight, and ducks espe- 

 cially, having had more of a fish diet than in the fall when grains 

 are available, offer a flesh that is at its worst. 



All birds are more trustful and less fearful when love warms 

 their little hearts and for them the springtime is the time of court- 

 ship and marriage. The loss of a single bird may mean one less nest- 

 ful of babies and there are enough natural enemies of the mating 

 and nesting bird without the unnatural enmity of man. 



It is estimated that during the last twenty-five years, the num- 

 ber of birds has decreased one-half. That would not be so bad if 

 if it were not for the fact that the most beautiful birds are the ones 

 that have decreased most rapidly. The scarlet tanager, the passen- 

 ger pigeon, the bluebird and the egret are fast going while the 

 most undesirable birds such as the English sparrow are fast com- 

 ing. 



