NATURAL HISTORY. 



When a bird or a wild animal is killed, that's the end of it. If photographed, it may still live and its educational 



and scientific value is multiplied indefinitely. 



A PLEA FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 



Prof. Lawrence Bruner, in Nebraska 



University Bulletin. 



The fact that insect depredations are 

 increasing in extent each succeeding year 

 makes it plain that something must be 

 done to prevent it, and that quickly. We 

 have found to our sorrow that although 

 we are continually making increased efforts 

 to destroy these pests, our efforts avail 

 but little, and the destruction of our crops 

 goes on. What, then, is to be done? How 

 can we be released from this ever increas- 

 ing struggle for existence? 



The answer is plain. Heed the advice of 

 the naturalist who has made a study of the 

 life histories of the various other living 

 creatures in the world about us. 



In his desire for bird protection the nat- 

 uralist is not prompted by sentiment alone; 

 far from it ! Although from the sentimen- 

 tal standpoint solely the friend of birds 

 would have sufficient grounds for making 

 such a request. 



"To appreciate the beauty of form and 

 plumage of birds, their grace of motion 

 and musical powers, we must know them." 

 "The ease with which we may become fa- 

 miliar with our feathered neighbors robs 

 ignorance of all excuses." "Once aware of 

 their existence we shall see a bird in every 

 bush and find the heavens their pathway. 

 One moment we may admire their beauty 

 of plumage, the next marvel at the ease and 

 grace with which they dash by us or circle 

 high overhead." The comings and goings 

 of our migratory birds in spring and 

 fall, their nestbuilding and rearing of 

 young, their many regular and beautiful 

 ways as exhibited in their daily lives, stir 

 within us impulses for kindness toward the 

 various creatures which share the world 

 with us. "But birds will appeal to us most 

 strongly through their song. When your 

 ears are attuned to the music of birds, 

 your world will be transformed. Birds' 

 songs are the most eloquent of nature's 

 voices : the gay carol of the grosbeak in the 

 morning, the dreamy, midday call of the 

 peewee, the vesper hymn of the thrush, 

 the clanging of geese in springtime, the 

 farewell of the bluebird in the fall — how 

 clearly each one expresses the sentiment of 

 the hour or season !" 



But if we can not take up the subject of 

 bird protection from the humane stand- 

 point, if we have no chord of sympathy or 

 sense of honor remaining, are we willing 

 to adopt business principles in our dealings 

 with the birds ? 



464 



Quoting from a paper by Professor S. A. 

 Forbes, who has done much in the line of 

 bird study in their direct relations to man, 

 we have the following : "Excluding the 

 inhabitants of the great seas, birds are the 

 most abundant of the vertebrata, occupy- 

 ing in this great sub-kingdom the same 

 prominent position that insects do among 

 invertebrate animals." This position of the 

 2 groups in their respective divisions of 

 the animal life of the globe can not be due 

 simply to chance. There must be some 

 connection between them. What is it? 



It is needless here for me to state that 

 the insect life about us i$. numerous and 

 varied. W T e all know this to be too true. 

 Nearly, if not quite, nine-tenths of all ani- 

 mal forms belong here, while the individ- 

 uals of many kinds are incalculable. We 

 know also that their powers of reproduc- 

 tion are wonderful, being limited only by 

 the quantity of food available, etc. Now, 

 the disproportionate number of birds, on 

 the other hand, with their "universal dis- 

 tribution, the remarkable locomotive power 

 which enables them readily to escape un- 

 favorable conditions, and their higher rate 

 of life, requiring for their maintenance a 

 quantity of food relatively enormous," 

 give to them a significance which few seem 

 ever to have realized. 



Briefly told, the economic relation of 

 birds to man lies in the services which they 

 render in checking the undue increase of 

 insects, the devouring of small rodents, in 

 destroying the seeds of noxious weeds, and 

 by acting as scavengers on land and water. 



Those who have studied the subject care- 

 fully have estimated that a loss of nearly 

 $400,000,000 is sustained annually by the 

 cultivators of the soil from insect ravages 

 in the United States and Canada. This does 

 not include the damage done to ornamen- 

 tal shrubbery, shade, and forest trees, nor 

 to the grasses growing on our prairies. 

 "But if insects are the natural enemies of 

 vegetation, 'birds are the natural enemies of 

 insects." 



"In the air swallows and swifts are 

 coursing rapidly to and fro, ever in pur- 

 suit of the insects which constitute their 

 sole food. When they retire, the night- 

 hawks • and whip-poor-wills take up the 

 chase, catching moths and other nocturnal 

 insects which would escape day-flyingbirds. 

 Fly-catchers lie in wait, darting from am- 

 bush at passing prey, and with a suggestive 

 click of the bill returning to their post. 

 The warblers, light active creatures, flut- 

 ter about the terminal foliage, and with 



