THE DECREASE OF GAME BIRDS 17 



stirred by the insipid combination of nothing but 

 water, weeds, and ripples ? In such a place you feel 

 keenly a want of harmony, only a part of the " Each 

 and All " is there, you encounter the painful desolation 

 of a deserted home, and confess with a pang that 

 you and your kindred, either by deed or by neglect, 

 are responsible for this emptiness of nature. The wild 

 creatures' Eden is there. The birds have never sinned 

 against God or man. Why have we banished them to 

 the sub- Arctic wastes ? 



How interesting and truly romantic is a boat trip, 

 when you may expect a deer coming out from the 

 thicket to drink, when you know wild-cats and bears 

 may be listening to your voice. How stale and tame 

 the whole journey becomes, when a six-inch pickerel 

 is the wildest creature you may expect to view. There 

 you cannot help thinking that for every lover of nature 

 this world is becoming a tiresome place. Is the time 

 rapidly approaching when English sparrows, brown 

 rats, and cottontails will be the biggest wild creatures 

 in the country ? We read in the Holy Book that 

 " God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, 

 it was very good." I fear that, unless the taste of 

 Him Who is unchangeable has undergone a decided 

 change, He must at this time be much disgusted with 

 a large part of the earth He created. Man, whom He 

 gave dominion over all, is indeed ruling the earth, but 

 he is not ruling it like a wise, beneficent father ; he is 

 ruling it like a greedy, despotic conqueror. 



It is high time that all lovers of nature wake up, 



