BIRDS OF TOWN AND COUNTPvY 



By Henry W. Henshaw 



Chief of the Bioeogicae Survey 



The 64 colored pictures of common birds of the United States, which illustrate 

 the following article by Dr. Henshaw, were prepared especially for the National 

 Geographic Magazine by the artist-naturalist, Louis Agassis Fuertes, and repre- 

 sent many months of work by him and by the engraver and printer. As in the 

 June, 1913, number, the Geographic printed a> collection of 50 birds in colors, 

 also by Louis Agassis Fuertes, with text by Dr. Henshaw, it has now given its 

 readers, at the cost of many thousands of dollars, a complete pictorial description 

 of the 114 more common birds of our country. 



The Magazine has received so many requests for separate copies of the article 

 printed last year that arrangements have been made for binding substantially in 

 one volume both of the above articles; also the article by Frederic H. Kennard, 

 <c Bncouraging Birds Around the Home," zvith 36 illustrations , which was printed 

 in our March, 1914, number, and the original contribution, "Our Greatest Travel- 

 ers: Birds that Fly from Pole to Pole; Birds that Make 2,500 Miles in a Single 

 Flight;' by Wells IV. Cooke, in our April, 1011, issue. A limited number of copies 

 of this valuable collection, substantially bound in cloth, may be obtained at the 

 office of the National Geographic Society at $1.00 each {bound in leather, $2.00). 



FROM very ancient times birds have 

 appealed to the interest and imagi- 

 nation of mankind. They have 

 furnished themes for innumerable poets, 

 have appeared in many guises in primi- 

 tive religions, and by their flight inspired 

 the predictions of the soothsayers of old. 

 In these modern and prosaic times birds 

 still continue to interest mankind, and 

 the last decade has witnessed a marked 

 strengthening of the sentiment toward 

 them. 



The present interest is direct and per- 

 sonal, and today hundreds of thousands 

 of men and women in various parts of 

 the country, old as well as young, are 

 employing much of their leisure in famil- 

 iarizing themselves with the birds of 

 their respective localities. In following 

 birds afield, in studying their habits, and 

 listening to their songs, they bring them- 

 selves into close touch and sympathy 

 with nature and add new zest to life — a 

 zest, be it noted, which enriches without 

 harm to any creature. 



Would that the same could be said of 

 the sportsman who almost invariably is 

 at heart a nature lover, though the primi- 

 tive instinct to kill is uppermost. Many 

 sportsmen, however, who formerly fol- 

 lowed wild creatures only to kill, have 

 abandoned the use of rifle and shotgun, 

 and today are finding greater pleasure in 



studying and photographing their former 

 quarry than they did in pursuing it with 

 murderous intent. A real interest in liv- 

 ing outdoor wild life leads naturally to a 

 love of nature in all her varied mani- 

 festations, and this, in all lands and 

 under all circumstances, remains a source 

 of lasting pleasure. 



A love of birds from the esthetic side, 

 however, is of comparatively recent de- 

 velopment and had little place among 

 primitive peoples, who utilized birds 

 chiefly in two ways — for food and for 

 ornament. Feathers, especially, appealed 

 to them for purposes of adornment, and 

 this barbaric taste has not only survived 

 among civilized races, but in recent years 

 has developed to an extent which threat- 

 ens the very existence of many of the 

 most beautiful and notable species of 

 birds in various parts of the world. No 

 region is too remote, no forests too deep, 

 no mountains too high to stay the plume- 

 hunter, stimulated by the golden bribe 

 offered by the tyrant Fashion. 



Happily, America has taken the lead 

 in an attempt to restrict this craze for 

 feather adornment, which means nothing 

 less than the death of millions of beauti- 

 ful and useful creatures. Nor are evi- 

 dences wanting that other countries as 

 well have recognized the gravity of the 

 situation and are preparing to pass pro- 



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