7738 Birds. 



destruction. The gun is not murderous enough ; it is, moreover, pre- 

 served for nobler game ; it is by all sorts of contrivances, such as nets, 

 birdlime, traps, &c., that these charming and indispensable little 

 friends are persecuted by man, to whom they were given by a wise 

 Providence. 



" Gentlemen, I will spare you a description of these barbarous 

 scenes ; but what I must point out to you is the disastrous number of 

 useful birds which are doomed to destruction throughout the whole 

 of France, especially in the Eastern and Western Departments. 



" As soon as the return of spring brings back to our lands, from the 

 shores of the Mediterranean, those faithful allies which our winters 

 had forced to emigrate, such is the reception they receive. In the 

 vicinity of Marseilles and Toulon, and of other towns and villages of 

 the coast, all the eminences are provided with implements for catching 

 these birds ; and, on the testimony of a man worthy of belief who has 

 specially studied the subject (M. Sace), during the few months this 

 cliasxe, lasts 100 to 200 beccaficas fall daily to each chasseur.* 



" The petition of the Toulon Committee therefore exaggerates 

 nothing when it affirms that those birds are destroyed by myriads on 

 their passage, to [the great detriment of our Central and Northern 

 Departments, M'here they arrive in such small numbers as not to fulfil 

 their providential mission. 



" In the Eastern Departments, especially in Old Lorraine, analogous 

 facts are demonstrated, as shown in the petition of the Acclimata- 

 tion Society of Nancy. t 



" And wherefore this ' butchery,' as it is styled by the Toulon Com- 

 mittee ? Is the right of man to feed on animals to be invoked ? 

 Surely it is not on such a plea that the destruction of these litttle 

 creatures could be justified, each of which is scarcely a moutliful. 

 Are these humming birds of the Old World, which are little more 

 than a tuft of feathers, to be placed in the category of food — no, not 

 food, but rather a coarse gluttony. 



" And yet, if it was calculated, even at the lowest estimation, how 

 many sacks of corn, barrels of wine and oil are represented by a dish 

 of these victims, it would be found that Lucullus in his full glory 

 never gave so costly a repast ; and to find an example of such luxury 

 we should have to advert to Cleopatra's pearl. 



"* Letter of M. Sace, quoted by M. Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire, ' Acclimalalion et 

 Doinesticalioii.' 



" f Buron Dumast. Extract from the ' BuUetiu de la Socicte d'Accliinutation du 

 Nord-est,' aunexed to one of the peliiious. 



/ 



