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II. 



THE COMMERCIAL AND ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS. 



WE live in a utilitarian age, when every possible bird, 

 beast, and product is viewed from a commercial stand- 

 point and its utmost value is determined to a nicety by 

 the laws of use, of taste, supply and demand. Perhaps 

 in no other period of the world's history has the 

 economic value of many forms of animal and vegetable 

 life, once deemed utterly worthless, been so fully recog- 

 nised as in the nineteenth century an age of science 

 and invention, improvement and culture. The birds of 

 the earth number upwards of twelve thousand species, 

 which are universally distributed over its surface, from 

 the eternal ice and snow of the polar regions to the 

 dense forests and the arid deserts of the torrid zone. 

 On every ocean, in every clime, from the deepest 

 valleys to the snow-capped mountain- tops, bird-life 

 abounds, adapted in every way to the peculiarities ot 

 the sea or land, and playing a most important part in 

 the world's economy. The birds of the globe are a 

 dominant if unassuming group of its inhabitants, and 



