Introductory 
lustration of this lack of seeing ; even birds as conspicuous as the 
Baltimore oriole, the cardinal, or the scarlet tanager are as re- 
mote as birds of paradise to many people who live in the country. 
I have heard men and women ask whether these birds, which 
they had just seen as mounted specimens in some museum, were 
from South America or some other tropical country. They were 
much surprised when told how common these and others of 
equally brilliant plumage are within a few miles of New York City. 
How many people who live in the country throughout the 
summer months, or even country folk themselves, have ever seen 
the rose-breasted grosbeak, a common and most gayly coloured 
summer resident P Or the yellow-breasted chat, or the Maryland 
yellowthroat, or the indigo-bird? Even these flashing bits of 
animated colour are generally unknown, while the less conspicu- 
ous birds, if seen at all, are called ‘‘sparrows”’ or ‘‘ small birds.” 
Now that the public schools are taking up nature studies, 
we have good reason to hope that people will learn more about 
the birds. | think any woman who had seen a mother-thrush on 
the nest, with her anxious, wild, little eyes looking out in fear 
of the intruder, could never again wear a stuffed bird as a hat orna- 
ment, to be used for a short month or two and then thrown 
away. For herein lies, perhaps, the chief cause of the partial 
extermination of our birds, both those that are sombre in colour 
(for they can be dyed to any desired shade) and those that are 
by nature of brilliant hues. And who gains by this cruel sacrifice 
to a heartless fashion save the dealers r , 
Keeping native song-birds in captivity is forbidden in some 
States, the idea being, of course, to protect the birds. But this 
law undoubtedly does harm as well as good, for many people 
are thus prevented from becoming intimately attached to the 
common birds. Who, having once owned a bluebird, could 
injure one in any way or take its eggs? And the same applies 
to almost any other species. Then, again, children would 
become fond of such birds as they knew, and the cruelty dis- 
played by some boys would be a thing undreamed of. In Eng- 
land, where I understand the song-birds are not protected by 
law, they are more abundant than anywhere else. What boy 
would kill an English robin—the robin redbreast—that he hears 
about in the earliest nursery rhymes and stories? He has been 
brought up to know and care for it, and it is therefore to be 
7 
