CHAPTER XXXVIII 



THE SLAUGHTER OF NORTH AMERICAN 



BIRDS 



nr^O the millions of people in North America who are in- 

 -■- terested in living birds, who are cheered by their pres- 

 ence and benefited by their labors, the most interesting or- 

 nithological study of the hour is: What shall we do next to 

 save our birds from extermination? Beside this vital issue all 

 questions of geographic variation, all listings of local species 

 and priority in Latin names sink into utter insignificance. 



It is high time that every new book on birds, no matter 

 where published, should in its first pages devote a liberal 

 portion of its space to the all-important subject of bird pro- 

 tection. To study birds in an academic way while scores of 

 species are being exterminated, and make no effort to arrest 

 the slaughter, is exactly like the music-making of Nero while 

 Rome was being destroyed by fire. There are now duties 

 devolving upon every ornithologist which no high-minded and 

 conscientious man or woman can evade without dishonor. The 

 cause needs work and publicity, and it greatly needs money. 

 Those who cannot supply one should furnish the other. 



The War of Extermination: Its Men and Its Meth- 

 ods. — There are three kinds of extermination: 



281 



