136 NATURE-STUDY 



fulness, their natural checks and enemies, their habits and 

 food, and the need of close seasons in hunting. A knowl- 

 edge of bird life, and a sympathetic interest in birds, 

 should do much for the cause of their protection. I be- 

 lieve it would be a good thing if the principal features of 

 the game laws of each state were read to the boys in the 

 schools once a year, and the meaning and purpose of the 

 laws made clear. 



It is a question how much shooting of birds may be justified 

 in the name of science. The average boy certainly should 

 not be encouraged in making a collection of stuffed birds. 

 There may be some boy with a marked interest in ornithology 

 who may be permitted to shoot birds for such a purpose, 

 but he should be advised not to destroy any more life than 

 necessary. 



Many boys have the egg-collecting fever for a short 

 while, during which they may commit much harm. If the 

 collecting is done with a serious purpose, to learn more of the 

 birds, it may be encouraged, but with proper restraints. The 

 collector should not take the whole clutch of eggs from a 

 nest, but only one or two. When eggs are collected, as in 

 the case of the ordinary stamp collections, merely for the 

 collecting, and when the collectors make a practice of selling 

 their eggs, the practice should be checked. 



We have our societies for the prevention of cruelty to ani- 

 mals. These societies are largely composed of women. 

 Yet many of these same women, who would have a man 

 arrested for beating his horse inhumanly, or for leaving it 

 unblanketed in the cold, will contentedly and with pleasure 

 wear hats adorned with the plumage of birds, plumage that 

 was obtained by the death of the bird to which it belonged. 



