I am sure vou will agree with me in thinking that the birds ate just as 
near and dear to us as the trees, and that it is also our duty to do all m em¬ 
power to preserve them. They not only appeal to what is best in us and sen e 
to strengthen our love for the good and the beautiful, but add much to the 
brightness and cheer of this nether life. They also help us all they can m 
our warfare against the insect pests that do more or less harm to about every¬ 
thing that grows upon the lawn, the farm or in the garden. 
When the birds are such good friends of ours, what a strange and unnatura 
thing it is for any of us to be enemies of theirs. How cruel for anyone to rob 
or tear down the nest built with so much labor and care and in which they 
lioped to spend so many happy days. To destroy the home in which they 
expected to rear their little ones and which is just as dear to them as our home 
is to us. How wicked' for anyone with sling-shot, toy rifle or firearms to kill 
them. To take the one glad, free and precious life to them gi\en. 
The American Indian wears the large feathers of the wild turkey and the 
quills of the porcupine as ornaments. Though we do not admire his taste, it is 
something to know that its gratification is harmless, as he needs both the 
turkey and the porcupine for food, and is especially loud of the lattei. 1 
would that we could say as much in defense of the many reared in Christian 
homes and surrounded by refining influences, who do not only imitate but seek 
to distance our red men in the observance of a barbarous custom. No reason¬ 
able excuse can be offered for the constant sacrifice of innocent life that is 
made in obedience to their wishes. 
What a shallow and heartless vanity to wear the feathers and ,wings and 
ofttimes the entire plumage of our most beautiful and useful birds as orna¬ 
ments. Those who do so not only advertise their approval of their merciless 
slaughter, but furnish its direct cause. Those who make the demand are more 
than equal partners in guilt with the hunters who provide the pitiful supply. 
“What does it cost, this garniture of death? 
It costs the life which God alone can give; 
It costs dull silence where was music’s breath, 
It costs dead joy, that foolish pride may live. 
Ah, life and joy and song, depend upon it, 
Are costly trimmings for a woman’s bonnet." 
Hard-hearted and selfish men will cease to commit this crime against nature, 
and to outrage our finer and nfore humane instincts, just as soon as it is no 
longer a source of gain to them. If the wholesale destruction of our feathered 
friends is to continue, the time will soon come when you will no longer be 
waked by bird-song in the morning, and when you shall stroll through the fields 
and woods the bright and happy form of life that gives them their greatest 
charm will be absent. 
There are those who say that the laws of New Jersey afford our song and 
insect destroying birds ample protection. I sincerely wish this were true. Too 
many people neither know nor care what these laws are. That you may 
know, they are printed in this circular, and I am sure you will respect them. 
Public sentiment does not demand their rigid enforcement and will not. I fear, 
until our boys and girls shall take the matter in hand. 
Others may remind you that the birds worn in our State are slaughtered 
elsewhere. Still they are birds ; as such we are interested in them and can 
also rightly claim in them a joint ownership. They are swift of flight, know 
nothing of geographical boundaries and are free to flee wherever fancy leads. 
