BIRDS ON HATS, ETC. 87 



have our game mammals, our game birds, and our fish 

 protected and preserved. Where deer have disap- 

 peared, coons, hares, and rabbits have become big 

 game, and where geese, ducks, grouse, and quail are 

 exterminated, robins, orioles, and bluebirds will become 

 fowls, as is proved in several South European countries. 

 Men and boys will continue to love the gun and the 

 rod, and however much we may desire to make our boys 

 become true lovers of nature, we certainly do not want 

 to educate their aggressive virility and their love for 

 sport and adventure out of them. A nation needs 

 philosophers, poets, artists, and perhaps even some 

 dreamers, but she also needs just that bubbling vitality 

 which in every healthy boy is the delight of parents 

 and teachers who take the trouble to understand boys. 

 Give your restless, mischievous, mean boy a good book 

 on outdoor sport, and he will at once drop mischief 

 and meanness, forget even about eating, and will quickly 

 become your staunch friend. 



I cannot close this chapter without calling attention 

 to the nuisance of ubiquitous, irresponsible gunners of 

 all classes, men, women, and boys. If you have not 

 enough moral backbone to let song birds, ducks, loons, 

 terns, and other lake and shore birds alone, when you 

 go on a summer outing or for a few days' fishing, 

 then in the name of human kindness and for the sake 

 of the birds, leave your guns and little rifles at home ! 

 The birds were not intended for your targets. Have 

 another gun slave throw up potatoes for you and 

 remember that the ball will penetrate or possibly pass 



