46 SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS. 



dainty manners of the little feathered pair, and then spun a 

 romance about them, or composed a poem, or even written 

 a vivid descriptive sketch in plain prose, that would have 

 been an addition to science indeed, as well as to literature. 

 Let us have public museums, and perhaps at rare intervals 

 a private collection might be permissible ; but let us, as 

 lovers of "our little brothers of the air," raise our voices in 

 protest against slaughter and robbery for mere decorative 

 purposes, or to gratify the momentary whims of gatherers of 

 bric-a-brac. 



It is difficult to understand how so many persons can 

 take a charming bird's life without compunction. It is a sin 

 against their aesthetic nature. See that Blackburnian or 

 Chestnut-sided Warbler glancing about in the tree ; now he 

 balances atilt on a twig ; now he clings back downward to a 

 spray ; now he poises like a hummer before a leaf cluster; 

 now he flits and tilts from stem to stem so airily, so fairily, 

 his varied colors flashing in the sun like the glittering 

 facets of a diamond. He is a sonnet in feathers — lightness 

 of air and sunshine embodied — rhythm caught in a living 

 form ! 



