THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



BIRD DESTRUCTION— A REPLY. 



Mr. H. R. Taylor — Dear Sir : 



I did not intend to delay so long my 

 answer to your question ia tlie Nidiolo- 

 GiST of February, viz.: whether I ever 

 wear feathers in my hat. It is a question 

 I want to answer most emphatically, and 

 in my farthest reaching voice — no ! Not 

 only do I never use them, but I preach (in 

 my way) against them, and am sometimes, 

 I fear, almost a nuisance to my friends on 

 the subject. 



If you had ever read one of my books, 

 I might almost say one of my articles, you 

 would not need to ask the question, for I 

 speak against the wearing of birds and 

 feathers, in season and out of season. I 

 spare bird-wearers no more than I do bird- 

 destroyers, and "collectors" of all sorts, 

 whose hands are raised against the most 

 beautiful creatures on earth, and who seem 

 not to care in the least for the extermina- 

 tion of bird life, if they can only heap up 

 more skins, and pile up more eggs. 



O, the pity of it ! and to think this mur- 

 der of the innocents has got to be a trade, 

 and magazines are published in the interest 

 of it, that is the saddest of all to a bird 

 lover. Very truly 5'ours, 



Olive Thorne Miller. 



CONFESSIONS OF AN EGG THIEF. 



Mrs. Olive Thorne Miller, 



Dear Madam : — Your highly esteemed 

 favor duly received. 



I dislike controversies, but while I think 

 I am inclined to be humane, and will often 

 step around a spider rather than crush it, 

 I confess to you I am an ''^g^ thief," and 

 delight to rob rare and beautifully marked 

 treasures from nests for my "collection." 



I never was cruel to birds, willfully per- 

 secuting them or destroying their young in 

 the nest. I dislike to kill a bird, and have 

 but three or four skins in my collection. 

 Of course, from your point of view I am 

 very wicked indeed, but did you ever 

 think of the beautiful tints and delicate 

 marking of so many birds' eggs, from the 



Eagle's to the Robin's, with never a desire 

 to possess them and treasure them as an 

 artist treasures a rare painting ? Why are 

 the coloration of eggs so exquisite if they 

 are all to be incubated for awhile by the 

 parent bird and then thrown in broken 

 shells from the nest — have the birds the 

 aesthetic sense to appreciate them ? Do you 

 not also know that most birds, if robbed, 

 will in a short time lay other eggs which 

 they may hatch ? 



To be sure, you will say that another 

 wicked egg collector will come along and 

 devour the eggs of the second laying, and 

 so on. 



I do not think the eggs I steal (you see 

 I admit the steal ! ) will affect the number 

 of our birds. I do think that shooting a 

 bird is a worse crime, and this reminds me 

 that I have not asked you yet, while ask- 

 ing you if you wore feathers in your hat, 

 if you ever eat Quail on toast, or Canvas- 

 back Duck, or Woodcock, for instance? 



The pertinency of this query lies in the 

 fact that that particular Canvasback may 

 have layed, had it lived, say five more sets 

 of eggs, one-fifth of which (to make the 

 percentage very high) would be stolen by 

 some lucky egg collector. Very well, you 

 have eaten the bird, are therefore a party 

 to the crime of its destruction, and have 

 done five times as much injury to bird life 

 in this case as the egg collector. Do you 

 see the point ? 



So then, if I steal no eggs, you must eat 

 no birds ! If I am permitted to hear of 

 your dining any more on Canvasback at 

 Delmonico's, I shall certainly insist on 

 sending you a pretty set of egg shells. 



Surely there are refinements without end 

 on this line, and if your sentiments should 

 become general, which they will not, soon 

 we shall eat no meat for thinking of the 

 death of cattle, and wear no wool in our 

 sympathy for the deprivation of the sheep. 



Do you really think it is so bad for me 

 to take birds' eggs? . If you do, I shall be 

 very sorry. Thanking you for your in- 

 dulgence in listening to a wicked egg col- 

 lector, I am. 



Very truly yours, 



Harry R. Taylor. 



