FIRBY : BIIIDS IN^iECTS. 



343 



mouse , the warbler, the nightingale, the chaffinch, the lark, the redbreast, — 

 is it not both a crime and a great folly 1 and will not the inevitable lesult 

 be the total loss of our harvests and most useful "fruits 1 Why should we 

 criminally interfere in the Divine organization of Nature ? why ruthlessly 

 slaughter our firmest allies and most valuable auxiliaries 1 Why lift our 

 hands against our benefactors and protectors from Nature's W3rst destroyers? 

 If woodmen and peasants could be made to understand the immense services 

 the cuckoo, the owl, and the woodpecker, render to mankind, they certainly 

 would protect those valuable servants from the useless destruction to which 

 they are, alas ! almost everywhere subjected. 



The governments of many German States have issued ordinances to 

 prevent the indiscriminate slaughter of singing birds ; this very good example 

 has been set by Hesse, Baden, Wurtemburg, and Prussia. In Saxony a heavy 

 fine is imposed on any person found capturing a nightingale, and for every 

 bird kept in a cage a tax of five thalers (15s.) is levied. This law does not 

 extend to the Saxon duchies, nor the forests of Thuringia, where in every village 

 no inhabitant is without his caged songster, and some have as many as thirty 

 or forty different species. Amongst those who have zealously employed their 

 talents for the protection of small birds and have further advocated attention 

 to their increase, may be mentioned the names of Lenz of Schrepfenthal, 

 Gloger of Berlin, and Schott de Schottenstein of Ulm. 



Reader take the work of preservation to heart ! You have looked into 

 the admirable economy of Nature which God has so wisely ordained and 

 organised, "manifesting His power even amidst the most minute objects of 

 His marvellous creation. Contribute to the utmost of your power to main- 

 tain and uphold that order ; it is not merely wise, but pious to do so ! 



Feed and protect these birds ; they will enliven your courtyards and 

 gardens ; they will come to you in full confidence, ^and await the crumbs 

 distributed by your hands ; they will build nests in your bushes and amuse 

 you by their ceaseless activity and solicitude for their young ; they will charm 

 your ears with their mellifluous songs of joy and gratitude ; and if tliroughout 

 the land they find both protection and comfort, they will largely and in a 

 most striking manner requite the benefits received by proving themselves to 

 be the most faithful protectors of your fields and. woods, orchards and gardens, 

 and of cultivation in general. 



Victoria Terrace, Headingley. ^ 



