The Daily Nashville true Whig. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1851-1855, 1855-08-06
Correspondence of he New York Evening Post =
"Spare the Birds"
HERKIMER, IN. " July l6, 1855

HERKNER, IN. ~ July l6 1855.
Much has been said of late in the agricultural
and other journals touching the needless ind ruth.
less destruction Of the tiny field birds, whose beauty
and melody alone should be sufficient protection;
for
1.-THE richest hues
Lie in their splendid plumage, and their tones
Are sweeter than the music Of the lutte,
Or the harps melody, the notes that gush
20 thrilling { rom Beauty's ruby lip"
But it is not only that they delight the eye and
the of of that they should be cherished and
protected. They were sent to do him an important
service, by Kidding him OF myrads of those insect
pests which, that if left unchecked, would soon ra
wage his orchard and bis field. This whole subject,
it seems to me, is worthy of greater and more Sc
rious attention than il has yet received.
Recently, after an absence of about ten years, !
revisited my native village, in one of the river
counties. May changes had Of course occurred;
but the most striking TO me was the departure OF
the birds from the haunts where, when boy, / had
seen them in multitudes. The trees aud groves and
forests remained much as | had left Them but not
more than one bird was now to be seen or heard
where dozens were wont TO cOngregate. The
barns were still standing where the swallows built
their nests, AMI many May-morning concert of
theirs have attentcd, when they made the whole
wekin resonant with their merry twitter; but now
solitary pair were all that | observed during a
II
and perhaps necessary consequence Of this absence
of the birds, learned that the fruit had amentably
deteriorated, and to such an extent in tact that
some varieties, which were raised in perfection
and without trouble, were no longer cultivated.
Laws have been passed in several OF the States
for the protection OF these humble, harmless ser
vitors of man; and while the necessity for such
laws reflects 10 credit upon people who boast Of
their superior Intelligence and morality, it would
still be well if like egisoon adopted in every
State. And yet much more cficacious than penal
enactments would be the proper training of our
children. They may be taught in a few easy les.
sons, the real value of bids, and may be made to
find more delight in studying their habits and pro-
tecting their haunts than they have ever experien-
ced in caging Or killing them.
But boys of thirteen and bodies of thirty are
not the only foes Of the birds l am Inclined to
think that much more formidable enemy exists
in the domestic cat. Within brief period past
three nests-two Of robins and one of chirping
bird's--and all that have vet Dissolved, have been
destroyed upon my own premises by NV neighbours
cats. Whether il Is the nvariabIe rule of the ami
NAL in question to wait, after having discovered a
nest until the eggs Matched and the young birds
halt grown before making an attack upon the par.
ent bird cannot say but in each OF the instances
TO which have alluded though the female might
have been seized any night during the period of
incubation, the willy marauders saw fit to bride
their appetite until they could destroy the mother
bird 'and all her pretty brood at fen swoop.n
Our youth may be taught to love and cherish
and reverence the blest wanderers of the upper
dUep our Solons may make bird murder a misde.
meanor; Bryants, with view Of getting up a
touch Of sympathy in his favor, NAV sing the prai-
ses Of "Robert Lincoln" in strsins almost as meli-
fiuOs as his own; but cats care nothing for our
laws, and apparently have little ear Tor other mu.
sic than their own. They woGl1 rather feast upon
Roberts carcass than Listen to his sweet lays Let
us, then. whls adopting other judicious measures,
make war to the teeth upon these useless thevish,
waulng pests, and so save the birds.