SMALL COUNTRY NEIGHBORS 403 



the fussy agility of most of its kinsfolk. Occasionally it 

 would catch some insect on the wing, but most of the time 

 kept hopping about among the needle-clad clusters of the 

 pine twigs, or moving along the larger branches, stop- 

 ping from time to time to sing. Now and then it would 

 sit still on one twig for several minutes, singing at short 

 intervals and preening its feathers. 



After looking at it for nearly an hour we had to solve 

 the rather difficult ethical question as to whether we 

 ought to kill it or not. In these cases it is always hard 

 to draw the line between heartlessness and sentimentality. 

 In our own minds we were sure of our identification, 

 and did not feel that we could be mistaken, but we were 

 none of us professed ornithologists, and as far as I knew 

 the bird was really rare thus far north ; so that it seemed 

 best to shoot him, which was accordingly done. I was 

 influenced in this decision, in the first place because war- 

 blers are so small that it is difficult for any observer to 

 be absolutely certain as to their identification ; and in the 

 next place by the fact that the breeding season was un- 

 doubtedly over, and that this was an adult male, so that 

 no harm came to the species. I very strongly feel that 

 there should be no " collecting " of rare and beautiful 

 species when this is not imperatively demanded. Mock- 

 ing-birds, for instance, are very beautiful birds, well 

 known and unmistakable; and there is not the slightest 

 excuse for " collecting " their nests and eggs or shooting 

 specimens of them, no matter where they may be found. 

 So, there is no excuse for shooting scarlet tanagers, sum- 

 mer redbirds, cardinals, nor of course any of the com- 



