1899 | The educational value of bira-study 247 
There is, however, another and equally important reason 
why we should become acquainted with birds; a reason 
which applies more especially to boys. Boys are huntsmen 
by nature. Most of them begin their warfare against the 
birds as soon as they are old enough to climb, and continue 
it until they are too old to shoot. Doubtless more boys be- 
tween the ages of ten and fourteen form collections of birds’ 
eges than engage in the pursuit of all other branches of 
natural history combined. This is a perfectly natural exhibi- 
tion of an instinct inherited from ancestors who lived by the 
chase. 
Now, while we may all deplore the wanton destruction of 
bird-life, few of us realize the potency for evil or for good 
contained in this inherent taste which prompts a boy to hunt 
and kill. Let it grow unchecked, and it may serve as a root 
for the most cruel traits human nature exhibits—lack of sym- 
pathy with suffering, disregard of the value of life, the foun- 
dation, in other words, of brutality. If, however, we develop 
it, arousing in the child an appreciative interest 1n animals 
and teaching him their economic and esthetic importance, 
we shall at the same time morally elevate him to an immeas- 
urable degree. 
Just as a boy is by nature thoughtlessly cruel, so is woman 
naturally kind and tender-hearted. It might be supposed, 
therefore, that woman’s inborn love of animals required no 
special development, and could never lead her into sins 
against nature. If this were the case, however, should we 
be confronted by appeals from the Audubon Societies for the 
protection of birds, and statements by authorities that the 
annual destruction of bird-life for millinery purposes 
threatens with extinction many of our most useful and beau- 
tiful species? Bird-study, therefore, not only has_ its 
aesthetic side, as it opens to us new fields of enjoyment and 
brings us into closer touch with nature, but it involves hu- 
mane and moral questions of the deepest import. 
Admitting, then, the advisability of giving greater atten- 
tion to birds than we do to other animals with which we may 
not establish such personal relations, what method of in- 
wa Os 
