HENRY HALES. 169 



Of all animated nature no animals show such lovable char- 

 acters as birds, to say nothing of their beautiful plumages, 

 delicate forms, and exquisite songs. Their affection and 

 trustfulness to man is to any lover of nature simply mar- 

 velous. Whoever has travelled through places where the 

 gun does not shock the ear, or the savage cat does not stalk 

 stealthily about, may see the astonishing confidence birds 

 have in man. It is not uncommon on our Western plains to 

 see a flock of Red-shouldered Blackbirds {AgelcBus phceniceus) 

 come boldly into the outbuildings and even into the houses, 

 and make themselves quite at home ; or in the South, to 

 have the sprightly Catbird {Galeoscoptes carolinensis) come 

 into every corner of the kitchen. Many of our northern 

 birds yearn to be noticed and loved, and are only repelled 

 by our indifference and coldness. 



This is not the place for many illustrations that have fallen 

 under my notice, but the world is full of incidents of the af- 

 fection of birds for man. Alas ! to be so little realized. To 

 creatures that show so much affection, what a cruel thing it 

 is to repel or betray that confidence ! Of all heart-rending 

 proceedings that have disgraced a civilized people the worst 

 is the wearing of the bodies or plumages of birds, whether 

 song-birds or other harmless ones, as ornaments to gar- 

 ments. The destruction of the colony of Terns on Gull 

 Island, off Guilford, Connecticut, described by an eye-wit- 

 ness a few years ago, is a specimen of the cruelty of those 

 engaged in that business. Some men went on the island 

 while the birds were breeding there, and commenced firing at 

 them ; all those that were not hurt came circling around in 

 sympathy at the cries of the wounded ones ; these in turn 

 were killed, their bleeding forms were carried to the shore in 

 wheelbarrows, and the young left to perish in their desolated 

 nests. 



It is so well known how thousands upon thousands of our 

 sweet songsters are sacrificed to the Moloch of fashion, 

 that I need not here detail it. The Audubon Society 



