246 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BIRD WORLD 



jority of them have no beauty, and are as meaningless as 

 marbles. The pursuit of them is interesting, I grant, but the 

 possession nearly always palls. The collector of eggs destroys 

 life, fearfully, and has for all his labors and his pains only such 

 as this: — O O O o. 



If you think enough of birds to mount, or have mounted, 

 every fine specimen that you kill — aside from legitimate game 

 — then you may be justified in forming a collection. There 

 is some excuse for collections of well-mounted birds, especially 

 those that are presented to schools, where thousands of young 

 people may study them; but wild life is now becoming so 

 scarce that the making of large private collections, for the 

 benefit of one man, is a sin against Nature. 



The Reasonable Study of Birds. — In studying birds, 

 do not be narrow! Use the field-glass, the camera and pencil, 

 rather than the shotgun and the microscope. x\ny fool with 

 a gun can kill a bird; but it takes intelligence and skill to 

 photograph one. 



It is not at all necessary that people generally should be 

 able to name correctly every bird that the forest and field 

 may disclose. Many species of warblers, and sparrows, and 

 larger birds also, are so much alike that it is very difficult 

 for any one save a trained ornithologist to analyze them cor- 

 rectly. The general public is not interested in differences 

 that are nearly microscopic. When birds and mammals can- 

 not be recognized without killing them, and removing their 

 skulls, it is quite time to draw the line. 



It is entirely possible for any intelligent person to become 

 well acquainted with at least one hundred and twenty-five 



