THE NIDIOIvOGIST. 



139 



Shrike immediatly seized it in his beak and 

 flew away. Unfortunately I was unable to 

 follow and discover in what way the Spar- 

 row was disposed of. The Shrikes follow 

 these flocks of small birds all winter and, I 

 have no doubt, destroy large numbers with 

 ease. 



This Northern Shrike we have with us 

 all winter until the White-rumped conies 

 and fills his place. Thus is Lanins able to 

 carry on continued slaughter among the 

 Sparrows and grasshoppers. 



S. Bob White. 



Denver, Colo. 



*[I have seen a Shrike impale a mouse on a barbed 

 wire, and rend it as it hung, replacing it when it fell 

 off. Having hung its quarry tor this purpose, it would 

 be only nataral for the bird to occasionally leave it so 

 hanging until hungry. — Ed.] 



Bird Destruction Again. 



YOU are not quite fair to roe in your 

 letter in the April number of your 

 magazine. I never said it was 

 "wicked" to kill birds. Moreover, 

 in all luy outcry against bird destruction, it 

 has been the song birds and the in.sect- 

 eating birds in whose favor I have tried to 

 raise a sentiment. I have not said any- 

 thing about those called "game birds, " nor 

 the domesticated birds, though — as a mat- 

 ter of fact — I would not eat Woodcock and 

 "Bob Whites" any more than I would 

 Bobolinks or Robins, and if you hear of my 

 "dining any more at Delmonico's" j-ou 

 may be very sure the birds that are set be- 

 fore me, with their poor little legs held up 

 in pathetic appeal — as it looks to me — will 

 go away from the table untouched, as they 

 always have done. 



Did I "never desire to possess and treas- 

 ure the beautiful eggs of a bird?" Never! 

 I would much rather possess the living 

 bird, active and free in the trees. That 

 "the eggs are too exquisite to be left for 

 incubation" you surely do not advance as 

 an argument. 



But you altogether mistake my point. I 

 protest against the indiscriminate slaughter 

 of birds, not only because they are the most 

 beautiful and charming creatures on earth, 

 but because they are indispensable to our 

 life on this planet. For every bird de- 

 stroyed, millions of insects flourish, and we 

 are assured by scientific naturalists that un- 

 checked insect life would depopulate the 

 earth of every other form of life. Man's 



efforts at checking the ravages of insects 

 have not been a brilliant success, and the 

 insect "collector" has not succeeded in re- 

 ducing the ranks of his prey as has the 

 bird, skin and ^g^ collector. Would it not 

 be wise to leave a few birds to attend to 

 this matter for us? 



That my "sentiments will not soon be- 

 come general" is, alas! too true; but the 

 sentiment is growing, and — mark my pro- 

 phesy ! — a generation of boys will some day 

 arise, even in our bloodthirsty Anglo-Saxon 

 race, who shall not only adiuire but respect 

 the lives of our little brothers. 

 Very truly yours, 



Olive Thorne Miller. 



Brooklyn, N. Y. 



Another View. 



I AM glad to see your letter to Mrs. Mil- 

 ler, and I am surprised that she should 

 start such a question. It is all foolish 

 ness to start out by talking about "the 

 murder of the innocents." If murder is 

 the taking of life, then only the toothless 

 babe is innocent of murder* .If we are to be 

 vegetarians so as to escape the charge of 

 murder and wear cotton clothes and wooden 

 shoes, I can't see that it betters things 

 much, for when you come to study the mat- 

 ter it's hard to tell what's animals and 

 what's plants! 



If we view the question in the other 

 light, that is if we say, "Oh, we must have 

 leather shoes to wear and meat to eat, " 

 then I will say, "We must have specimens 

 if we are to study birds." I have no idea 

 that Olive Thorne Miller would object to 

 your collecting beetles' eggs or spiders' 

 eggs, and yet beetles and spiders are as 

 wonderful and beatiful as birds. No doubt 

 Mrs* Miller would say that we know enough 

 about classification of birds. Very well, 

 perhaps we do know about the Robin and 

 Bluebird and Blue Jay of the East, but I 

 think she would find some trouble in deter- 

 mining species in the West b)^ looking 

 through an opera glass. I must say, as 

 everyone does, that Mrs Miller has done 

 some wonderful work and written some fine 

 papers on bird life, but she doesn't agree 

 with us, so we will have to do each his own 

 way. She would no doubt say that there 

 has been no good done in spite of the col- 

 lections of skins, but still I think that the 

 fine work of Dr. Fisher on the Hawks and 

 Owls has preserved manj^ more than were 



