CHAPTER XX 



PRACTICAL DOMESTICATION OF OUR WILD BIRDS 



No longer now the wing'd habitants, 

 That in the woods their sweet lives sing away, 

 Flee from the form of man ; but gather round, 

 And prune their sunny feathers on the hands 

 Which little children stretch in friendly sport 

 Towards these dreadless partners of their play. 



happiness 

 And science dawn though late upon the earth. 



SHELLEY, Damon of the World. 



THE process of domestication consists in three things : 

 first, in development of intelligence sufficient to discern 

 between friends and foes ; second, in development of a 

 sympathetic appreciation of the animal's physical needs 

 sufficient to enable it to live with man in mutually helpful 

 relations ; and third, in so universalizing these attainments 

 and relations that all may work in unison, to the end that 

 what one builds up others will not tear down. The evi- 

 dence is already obtained to prove the value of a number 

 of the common species. On the aesthetic side alone the 

 sentiment is growing rapidly that our birds are worth 

 their board and lodging, which they pay for many times 

 over with their beauty and their song. In addition to 

 this, recent discoveries as to their work in insect destruc- 

 tion should win for them an assured place in nature-study 

 courses ; and, it would seem, that in no other way could 



