32 Passing of the Bluebird 



As if we had not birds enough of our own 

 to keep down all the worms that ever crawled 

 on a tree ! Why, then, did they not do it ? 

 it has been asked with much confidence, but a 

 stinging reply lies in wait for the questioner. 

 We would not let them. For years on years 

 there was absolute indifference in the matter 

 of bird-proteftion. For half a century a 

 law has been upon the statute-books with 

 reference to the destruction of insectivorous 

 birds, and probably not enough fines have 

 been colle&ed to pay for the printing of the 

 law. It is not long since that every boy 

 made a colle&ion of birds' eggs if he could, 

 and nests and eggs are openly advertised as 

 for sale in two-penny periodicals devoted to 

 the destruction of wild-life, under the catchy 

 title of Natural History Journals. In times 

 not long gone by were many ornithologists 

 whose influence was all for ill. The vague 

 hope of a new species being found led them 

 to slaughter the most familiar birds even by 

 the thousands, and, even in these more en- 

 lightened days, a professional bird-man has 

 described himself as " a slaughterer of the 

 innocents." It would really seem as if some 

 ornithologists, who should labor only for 



