DOMESTICATION OF OUR WILD BIRDS 



329 



. . . Wean them [school children] from their native cruelty by 



imparting to them some of your own positive sympathy with an 



animal's inner sprin<i:s of iov. , ^ u ^ , 



^ ^ ^ ^ James, Talks to Teachers, p. 195. 



What positive work can the children do for birds that 

 will tend to their increase and draw them closer and 

 closer about our homes year by year ? Let us apply 

 ourselves thoughtfully to this question ; for I am sure 

 we shall find increasing pleasure in following its varied 

 suggestions as long as we live. We have been chasing 

 the birds farther and farther back into the woods lono- 

 enough. Let us reverse all this and induce them to 

 come to us. 



Food, Water, and Home, Essentials of Bird Life. — Since their 

 homes are such frail affairs, we should expect birds to 

 build where food and water are abundant. Still we should 

 remember that the idea of home, with birds as with men, is 

 intimately associated with a sense of security, and that the 

 predominant characteristics of birds are wings, timidity, 

 ability to flee. The sight of a cat, the careless throwing 

 of a stone, when a pair are seeking a nesting place, may 

 often influence them to go elsewhere. On the other 

 hand, no animals have eyes so quick to discern acts of 

 friendliness, and, if all appearance of hostility is avoided, 

 I doubt if we need to modify the daily course of our lives 

 essentially to have the birds come to us. Their nests 

 often stand close to railroads and overhang busy streets, 

 and if not directly molested, many of our most valuable 

 species seem quite content to take the world as they find 

 it. This is the result of my observations and experience 

 for the past ten years. 



