were only visitors in the pleasant seasons. Their homes, and 

 where they built their nests and hatched their young, were 

 far away, in a warmer region. The white people did not de- 

 sire them as food, but the poor birds had another fatal attrac- 

 tion that brought about their death and destruction, and which 

 was their feathers. They were remarkably beautiful, and the 

 rich white women were covetous of them, to wear in their 

 hats and bonnets, and would pay large prices for them. So 

 the men of the country where these birds lived would himt 

 and eagerly kill them to get this money. It was easy to do this 

 when the young birds were hatched and yet in the nests, for 

 then the old birds would linger around the spot, and could be 

 easily got at and killed. But as the young ones did not yet 

 have these fine feathers, they were of no value, and would be 

 left to die wretchedly in the nest, of starvation. And so it 

 now is that these harmless, bfeautiful little birds are all gone, 

 except maybe a very few that have gone away off into thick 

 and gloomy woods where the white men do not go. But 

 while there were any, the rich white women had their feathers, 

 and I suppose they felt very proud. What did it matter to 

 them if their ornaments were procured at the expense of 

 the lives of both the nursing mothers and the helpless little 

 baby birds? 



"The story of my life is now coming to an end, so I will 

 here tell some of the circumstances that led up to my de- 

 struction, so far as I know. There was one of my large 

 branches that in some way, in the course of my life, sustained 

 some injury. It still put forth some green t\A4gs and leaves, 

 but in a portion of its center it decayed and rotted, and be- 

 came partially hollow. One day a pair of squirrels came along, 

 ran along this limb, looking at it, and seemed to take quite 

 an interest in it. Soon they went to work with teeth and 

 claws on a decayed knot-hole that communicated with the 

 hollow inside, and it was not long before they made this little 

 entrance large enough to admit their bodies. Then they took 

 up their abode therein and made it their home. They were 

 bright, fine little chaps, and I was glad to have them there 

 with me. They would run around all over me, skipping, jump- 



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