owls, were protected as the quail and deer are, 

 they might be preserved a long time to our 

 meadows and woods. How irreparable the loss 

 to our landscape is the extinction of the great 

 golden eagle ! How much less of spirit, daring, 

 courage, and life come to us since we no longer 

 mark the majestic creature soaring among the 

 clouds, the monarch of the skies ! A dreary 

 world it will be out of doors when we can hear 

 no more the scream of the hawks, can no 

 longer find the tracks of the coon, nor follow 

 a fox to den. We can well afford to part with 

 a turnip, a chicken, and even with a suit of 

 clothes, now and then, for the sake of this wild 

 flavor to our fenced pastures and close-cut 

 meadows. 



I ought to have named the crow in the list 

 deserving protection. He steals. So did Fal- 

 staff. But I should miss Falstaff had Shakspere 

 left him out ; yet no more than I should miss 

 the crow were he driven from the pines. They 

 are both very human. Jim Crow is the humanest 

 bird in feathers. The skunk I did include in 

 the list. It was not by mistake. The skunk 

 has a good and safe side to him, when we know 

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