T«E OOLOGIST 



109 



scientific oologist, altogether, or treat 

 it as a minimized factor in bird de- 

 struction, compared with the various 

 other causes responsible for the death 

 of birds. 



IN THE LIFE OF THE BIRD, 

 DOES ALL REPRODUCTION DE- 

 PEND! Robbery of a nest of eggs 

 may be committed, but without de- 

 stroying the means of reproduction, 

 or checking reproduction itself. In 

 the absolute death of the bird, all is 

 over for all time to come! This is a 

 simple statement which will permit of 

 no argument. It is a law of Nature, 

 absolute in its function and unalter- 

 ably stolid and unrelenting in its 

 workings today as when it was first 

 chronicled for man's benefit, nearly 

 3500 years ago. Note the following: 



Deuteronomy, XXII Chapter, Sixth 

 and seventh verses: 



6. If a bird's nest chance to be in 

 the way in any tree, or on the 

 ground, whether they be young 

 ones, or eggs, and the dam sit- 

 ting upon the young or upon the 



eggs, thou Shalt not take the 

 dam with the young (or eggs). 



7. "But thou Shalt in anywise let 

 the dam go, and take the young 

 (or eggs) to thee; that it may 

 be well with thee, and that 

 thou may prolong thy days." 



How swift and certain, many times, 

 has this law of Nature been brought 

 face to face with the human race! 

 Just two instances of most recent 

 times may be cited here for calling at- 

 tention to the inevitable verdict of 

 ^Nature for man's violation of her 

 laws; and the scriptural passage 

 above quoted is a justifiable warning 

 of that law. The mere mention of 

 the Great Auk and Passenger Pigeon 

 will bring my point home to every 

 bird student; and the following state- 

 ments can find no solace in the 

 breasts of those who condemn the 



oologist as a very great factor in bird 

 destruction: 



NOT OOLOGIST, COLLECTING 

 EGGS, but bird killers was it that 

 wrought destruction and demoraliza- 

 tion to the ranks of the Great Auk, 

 driving them to extermination. NOT 

 OOLOGISTS, COLLECTING EGGS, 

 but bird killers, with a wantonness 

 without a parallel, brought disaster 

 and total annihilation to the myriads 

 of wild Passenger Pigeons of North 

 America. 



True it is, no doubt, that bird killers 

 did not sweep away the last remnants 

 of the Great Auk, and just as true, no 

 doubt, the thinned ranks of the wild 

 pigeons were not persistently shatter- 

 ed by similar destructive agencies, 

 after it became unprofitable to follow 

 the work of destruction. But decade 

 after decade of unrelenting persecu- 

 birds to the point of loss of instincts 

 ftiion undoubtedly demoralized the 

 of reproduction; always living in con- 

 stant fear and wandering hither and 

 yon in search of a peaceful haven. 

 More especially, in the case of the 

 Passenger Pigeon, does this seem 

 true. Even the last immense flights 

 of these birds, we are told, showed 

 their inability to nest, or their indif- 

 ference to the instinct of reproduc- 

 tion, itself; taking flight and vacat- 

 ing the territory whenever their safe- 

 ty was menaced, regardless of the 

 passing of the breeding season. It 

 was the same with small flights, or 

 flocks, reported in most recent years, 

 when it would seem that the strag- 

 gling remnants could settle and breed 

 without notice or molestation, they 

 seemed to be wandering aimlessly 

 about, with no place to settle for any 

 definite period, but devoid of any in- 

 stinct except to snatch a few morsels 

 of food and hurry on, aimlessly, to a 

 destination unknown, even to them- 

 selves. 



