A YEAR WITH THE BIRDS 
553 
crops, while they sow the seeds of wild fruits and berries, be- 
cause these seeds being hard are dropped undigested. 
But, says some one, “ the Robins and Catbirds came in 
our garden and bit the ripe side of the strawberries and 
cherries that father was growing for market, and we had to 
shoot them to make them stay away.” 
This is all true : some birds will steal a few berries, but 
for this mischief they do good all the rest of the long season ; 
so pray ask your father to put a light charge of powder, a 
blank cartridge, as it is called, in the gun, that it may give 
the birds warning to keep off, but not kill them ; and let him 
save all the bullets and shot for the coward Crow, who not only 
pulls the sprouting corn but robs smaller birds of both eggs 
and young squabs, and for the Hen and Chicken Hawks. 
In the short descriptions of the one hundred Connecticut 
birds I have tried to tell of the chief food of each, so that you 
may put a good mark beside its name in your memory, and 
try to realize that these birds, beautiful as many are, still have 
a deeper claim upon you. I wish you to see that they as well 
as you are citizens of this great Republic and do their part for 
the public good, which, next to the care and love of home, 
should be the chief ambition of us all, men or women. 
The Wise Men know this and they have made laws to pro- 
tect the birds and other animals from cruelty and destruction, 
just as they have made laws to protect all other citizens. 
Listen to what your state forbids you to do, — to the laws 
that if you break you must and should be punished : 
VIII 
WARNING! WHAT THE LAW OF YOUR STATE SAYS 
ABOUT BIRDS 
( Condensed for the comprehension of children ) 
A 1 o person shall kill , catch, or have in possession, living or 
dead, at any time, any wild bird other than a game bird, nor 
any part thereof, except the English Sparrow, Crow, Great 
Horned Owl, or the Hawks, other than the Osprey or Fish 
Hawk. No person shall take, destroy, or disturb, or have in 
possession the nest or eggs of any wild bird. 
Partridge (or Ruffed Grouse), Woodcock, and Quail may 
be killed and possessed during October and November only; 
and the sale of these birds or shipment out of the state is for- 
bidden. 
