482 The Bird 
courtship and songs, the rearing of young birds, the avoid- 
ing of enemies, the selection of food and suitable haunts, 
and, lastly, the encountering and overcoming of dangers, — 
new and wide-spread,—which are now affecting the environ- 
ment of every creature of this world. Of greater impor- 
tance than ever before is this adaptation to new con- 
ditions; since man and his traps and his guns have come 
upon the scene, upsetting all the world-old order of 
Nature and slowly, surely, claiming the whole earth for 
himself. 
May the naturalists of to-day realize their opportunity 
and do their best to preserve to us and to posterity what 
is left to us of wild life! If not, let us pity the Nature- 
lover of two hundred years hence! 
