1,36 NATURE-STUDY 



fulness, their natural checks and enemies, their habits and 

 food, and the need of close seasons in hunting. A knowl- 

 edge of bird life, and a sympathetic interest in birds, 

 should do much for the cause of their protection. I be- 

 lieve it would be a good thing if the principal features of 

 the game laws of each state were read to the boys in the 

 schools once a year, and the meaning and purpose of the 

 laws made clear. 



It is a question how much shooting of birds may be justified 

 in the name of science. The average boy certainly should 

 not be encouraged in making a collection of stuffed birds. 

 There may be some boy with a marked interest in ornithology 

 who may be permitted to shoot birds for such a purpose, 

 but he should be advised not to destroy any more life than 

 necessary. 



Many boys have the egg-collecting fever for a short 

 while, during which they may commit much harm. If the 

 collecting is done with a serious purpose, to learn more of the 

 birds, it may be encouraged, but with proper restraints. The 

 collector should not take the whole clutch of eggs from a 

 nest, but only one or two. When eggs are collected, as in 

 the case of the ordinary stamp collections, merely for the 

 collecting, and when the collectors make a practice of selling 

 their eggs, the practice should be checked. 



We have our societies for the prevention of cruelty to ani- 

 mals. These societies are largely composed of women. 

 Yet many of these same women, who would have a man 

 arrested for beating his horse inhumanly, or for leaving it 

 unblanketed in the cold, will contentedly and with pleasure 

 wear hats adorned with the plumage of birds, plumage that 

 ■was obtained by the death of the bird to which it belonged. 



