TTITH mCI£ SAII'S :!.ITURALISTS 



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3-24-33 



T-ien comes an Indiar-a rnanuf acturer and hunting club member who gives his 

 reasons for thinltiing ha^::s are harmfixL. He says, "Hungarian partridges and quail 

 were plentiful "ontil tv7o years ago. Fe find the remains of "birds that have "been 

 killed "by hawks, we presume, and h^ve many times scared up hawks just after kill- 

 ing the "birds. . . . In four or five cases our menters have seen hav^fcs catch and kill 

 quail and pheasants. Do you think it would "be advisa"ble to offer a "bounty for 

 hawks?.... If (the county commissioners) will not pay the "bounty, our clu"b will." 



But along comes another citizen of Indiana this time a woman with a very 



different view. This woman writes, "I am terri"bly worked up over the move in 

 Indiana to exterminate all hawks and owls as vermin. ... The Cooper's and the sharp- 

 shinned hawks are the only varieties here which have a "bad name, yet all the others 

 are on the killers' list." 



Still a third citizen of Indiana says, "I feel that we must make a fight to 

 save our "beneficial liawks and owls from "becoming extinct, "before it is too late." 



And so the de"bate goes. Very puzzling, isn't it? 



But wait until you hear the heated argunents ahout that great family of 

 eagles. The controversy over our national em"blem and its relatives rages even more 

 "bitterly than the fight over haifes. 



A resident of Idaho was very much stirred ahout a "bill in Congress to five 

 nation-wide protection to the eagle and complained, "The eagle is one of the most 

 destructive "birds that we have in our state. It is very detrimental to our game 

 animals, such as rx)unt.n.in sheep, mountain goats, and also young deer." 



But a South Carolina citizen talces the opposite side of the eagle question. 

 He makes the plea, "Can't you get "busy and see my friend (the President of the 

 United States) and get our eagle so protected tha.t none will "be killed?" 



An Oregon woman is of much the same opinion. She writes: "The eagle is so 

 fast decreasing in nimbers as to "be soon extinct. Alaska and some states give a 

 "bounty on dead "oirds and in no state has he proper protection. ... ^hy call him the 

 Emblem of Freedom when he is not legally entitled to 'life, liberty and the pur- 

 suit of happiness'? Why honor him "by a place on National seals, medals, shields, 

 coins, etc. , when we care so little for him that we allow him to "be done to death 

 ....for a dollar dill or idle 'sport'?" 



We find the debate continuing with equal heat and zeal, when we turn from 

 the mighty eagle to the tiny, much-berated English sparrow. 



A Massachusetts bird-lo"^'"er tells us, "I have fed the outdoor birds for four 

 years. Of course, one draws in the undesirable with the desirable, so I h:ave about 

 75 sparrows at the present time. . ..They TDester my kinglets, haiiy and downy wood- 

 peckers, juncos, swarrp s-oarrows all my nice birds so much that I am now feed- 

 ing the kinglets and chickadees upon my window. " 



So runs the plaint of one bird lover. But that same bird in the eyes of an- 

 other friend of the birds a real estate dealer in Pennsylvania is a more wel- 

 come sight. He asks, "Can you give me information on what kind of bird-house I 

 should build for the English sparrow? These birds are resident here the year 

 'round. I have tried for three years to get them to nest in my yard and have so 



