76 



Bird -Lore 



National Committee are coming in rather 

 slowly. However, the wardens will all be 

 re-engaged for the coming breeding season, 

 trusting that before pay - day is reached 

 the necessary money for wages will be in 

 hand. Mayhap some person will read these 

 lines who will be touched by our necessities 

 and will give the initial $10,000 to start the 

 permanent endowment fund. — W. D. 



Public Sentiment and Bird Protection 



Though it is not yet true of some of the 

 southern states, it is probably no exaggera- 

 tion to say that in nearly all the rest of the 

 union the people who favor bird -protection 

 laws that will really preserve our useful 

 and harmless species of birds and animals, 

 and not simply postpone a little their final 

 extinction, now greatly outnumber those 

 who oppose them, and that they could 

 have their own way if they would insist 

 upon it. 



Market gunners and plume hunters, those 

 who make a special business of dealing in 

 game, the semi-professional sportsman who 

 spends all his time in shooting, are but an 

 insignificant portion of our population, but 

 they are doing most of the harm. 



They make their desires known, they ex- 

 press their opinions, and use their influence 

 and money to be allowed to continue their 

 •destructive work. For the future they care 

 nothing ; they would willingl}' shoot the 

 last Wild Turkey or Wood-duck for sport 

 or for sale. They want their fun, and their 

 agreeable way of making a living by de- 

 stroying and selling the game which is the 

 property of the whole body of citizens of 

 their respective states. 



That the determination and activity of 

 this small minority is able to make futile the 

 work of the far more numerous class which 

 is opposed to them, is due to the indiflference 

 and negligence of the latter, not to a lack 

 of power to assert its rights and protect its 

 property. 



Assuming that you take a personal interest 

 in bird protection, do you realize that it is 

 the duty of those so interested not to hide 

 their opinions and desires under a bushel 

 but to make them known and felt ? They 



will be surprised to find how many people' 

 will agree with them. How can those in- 

 trusted with the making and enforcement of 

 our laws know what the opinion of the pub- 

 lic really is about a matter where only one 

 side, and that a small minority, make them- 

 selves heard ? Most of us do not wish, in 

 fact most of us are not in a position where 

 we can afford to lose the good will of those 

 about us by undue activity in criticizing or 

 making complaints. We do not always 

 need to. We can do as much good, or often 

 more, by encouraging or helping those who 

 are doing well, as by finding fault with 

 those who are not. 



Is there any society in your town or state 

 which is working for bird protection ? If 

 so, have you taken interest enough to join 

 it ? Probably you are not so situated that 

 you can take an active part in their work, 

 but every name, even an obscure one, added 

 to their membership list encourages and in- 

 creases the influence of those who can and 

 do work. They are meeting with much 

 opposition, and, what is still worse, indif- 

 ference, and they need all the backing up 

 that we can give them. 



Have you a representative in your district 

 who works hard for better game-laws, or 

 would work for them if he thought the 

 people \Vanted them, or a game-warden who 

 is diligent and courageous ? If so, you may 

 be sure that many people are doing their 

 best to make trouble for him. Does he know 

 that he has your approval and sympathy, 

 and do you ever call the attention of others 

 to his good work ? Is it not likely that a 

 word of thanks or encouragement, if you 

 know them, or a note of a few lines express- 

 ing your appreciation of their services, even 

 from a stranger, would do more good than 

 ten times the amount of complaint and criti- 

 cism directed against people who are prob- 

 ably indifferent to it? 



We should not forget that each of us is, 

 according to law, a part owner of the birds 

 which are being exterminated for the amuse- 

 ment and gain of a comparatively few indi- 

 viduals, and that, as in the case with 

 property of other kinds, we must either 

 provide for their preservation or lose them 

 entirely. — Willard G. Van Name. 



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