290 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. 



To review this matter : The stock of wild fowl has reached 

 a low ebb through a long-continued and ever-increasing per- 

 secution and an ever-narrowing breeding range. Two differ- 

 ent motive forces have pushed the persecution, the market 

 and an inborn love of hunting, the one commercial a mat- 

 of dollars and cents the other a natural instinct. The one 

 gratifies the few that earn a meagre living by hunting and the 

 few rich enough to buy ; the other may be enjoyed by every 

 man able to leave his place of business if he so elects. The 

 one breeds dyspepsia, the other vigorous health. The one 

 benefits classes, the other masses. Nothing in Euclid is 

 more clearly demonstrated than that their combined drain is 

 altogether too great to be borne. One of them must be put 

 out of action. Which? We have seen that several States 

 have decided already. Selling and killing for sale are pro- 

 hibited. When our uniform laws are come to pass, that 

 clause will be a part of them. Moreover, the number of 

 birds that may be taken in a day will be fixed low. Then 

 spring will be a close season everywhere, and the open season 

 will not be longer than two, or possibly three, months, vary- 

 ing in time according to the habits of the different species. 



But the main thing, after all, is popular education along 

 this line. There is a contagion in reform. That infection has 

 begun is evident. All having the preservation of birds at 

 heart must help spread it by precept and example. By care 

 the stock may be replenished and the birds indefinitely pre- 

 served, a continued source of benefit to us and a worthy 

 legacy to posterity. 



* Aside from schools there are certain organizations through 

 which the idea of bird protection is promulgated. Of these 

 the American Ornithologists' Union, which is devoted to all 

 phases of bird work, is the most comprehensive. Its member- 

 ship embraces many able men who have contributed liberally 

 to current literature upon this subject. The many branches 

 of the Audubon Society, especially arrayed against the use of 



