INSECTS BIRDS. 133 



"We must not merely agree to let them live we must 

 cherish and protect them. I believe that very sim- 

 ple cups or bowls of cast-iron, having each a hole in 

 its centre of suitable size, that need not cost six- 

 pence each, and could be fastened to the side of a 

 tree with one nail lightly driven, would in time be 

 adopted by many birds as nesting strongholds, whence 

 they might laugh to scorn their predacious enemies. 

 If every harmless bird could build its nest among us 

 in a place where its eggs would be safe from hawks, 

 crows, cats, boys, and other robbers, the number of 

 such birds would quickly be doubled and quadrupled. 

 And we must summon the law to our aid. Though 

 law can do little or nothing against stealthy, skulk- 

 ing nest-plunderers, it can help us materially in our 

 warfare with the cowardly vagabonds who traverse 

 our fields with musket or rifle, blazing away at every 

 unsuspecting robin or thrush that they can discover. 

 Make it trespass, punishable with fine and imprison- 

 ment, to shoot on another's land without his express 

 permission, and the cowardly massacre of the fanners' 

 humble allies would be checked at once, and, when 

 public sentiment had been properly enlightened, 

 might, in civilized regions, be arrested altogether. 



