40 SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS. 



That thousands of innocent birds are slaughtered every 

 year for no sufficient reason needs no asserting and brooks 

 no denying. When will the " reign of terror " cease in bird- 

 land ? The sportsman's and collector's guns make the woods 

 daily resound with sharp, echoing reports which must strike 

 horror to many a birdling's heart ; and with almost every crash 

 of exploding powder a sweet, happy, guileless life goes out. 

 One might almost be pardoned for repeating the Psalmist's 

 despairing payer •. " How long, O Lord, how long ? " 



That this wholesale and indiscriminate slaughter is ex- 

 tremely unwise, not to say suicidal, goes without saying. 

 Should a man passing through a region infested with brig- 

 ands turn upon his protectors and slay them, he would not 

 do a more unwise deed than men do when they slay the birds, 

 which are our natural guardians against myriads of biting, 

 stinging, blighting and obnoxious insects. Why, in the 

 economy of nature, these noisome insects were made, I need 

 not stop to inquire, for this is not a speculative but a prac- 

 tical discussion. I must therefore let Sidney Lanier's 

 dreamy inquiry respecting the sustenance of the Mocking- 

 bird go unanswered : 



" Sweet Science, this large riddle read me plain : 

 How may the death of that small insect be 

 The life of yon trim Shakespeare on the tree ? " 



Being so extremely fond of feathered folk, I am half- 

 disposed to say that the insects were made for the birds, 

 and as to the birds themselves, why, they are "their own 

 excuse for being.'' Yet mayhap the entomologist would say, 

 "that is an explanation that does not explain." Well, no 

 matter. We know that many destructive insects do infest 

 the land, and that, if permitted to live and thrive, they play 

 sad havoc with our gardens, orchards and woodlands ; and, 

 besides, we are just as well aware that birds are the natural 

 destroyers of these insects. Such are the facts, explain 

 them as you will. I may rack my brain to discover why so 



