64 MOCKINGBIED 



ers do about the Robin, and the bird becomes very 

 tame when kindly treated. Nevertheless, though 

 it is so responsive to man's companionship, de- 

 stroys so many noxious insects, and has a voice of 

 such famous quality, it is being gradually exter- 

 minated. Mr. Nehrling quotes from Mr. Carl 

 Danzer : " We hear complaints from Louisiana 

 of the disappearance of the Mockingbird. There 

 as elsewhere the birds are shot, year in and year 

 out, by villainous boys, both old and young, and 

 as the bird loves to settle near human dwellings, 

 its very trustfulness leads to its own destruction. 

 Then there is the unfortunate circumstance that 

 the bird is adapted to cage-life and brings a high 

 price ; this is the cause of the nests being eagerly 

 sought and robbed of their half -fledged occupants. 

 Carloads of Mockingbirds are sent annually from 

 the south to the north. . . . Should matters con- 

 tinue as heretofore, all the American birds of 

 attractive plumage or voice will be exterminated, 

 at least in the neighborhood of our larger cities. 

 Only the most severe laws, enforced by the most 

 vigilant public sentiment, can be of any service. 

 . . . The transportation of birds'-skins, hundreds of 

 thousands of which are sent even to foreign coun- 

 tries for millinery purposes, should be forbidden 

 under penalty of heavy punishment. Only the 

 severest laws, enforced without compunction, can 

 effectually stop the demoralizing, shameful love of 

 destruction, which threatens to rob our landscapes 



