The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-05-17
GODS CARE FOR THE BIRDS
Continued from First Page)

NSolllIlIoSo II VIII | tt cI | G.soNrt these two conditions the law does
 not give man the right to take away life God, who is the giver of life, may
 ordain the law of it's movements and
 the limit of its continuance. But it is
 presumption in man to assume the right
 to take the life, which God has given, at his pleasure and without the best of
 reasons. You would look with anger
 upon a cat which watches canary and
 seeks to seize and devour 1t. But what shall you say of the sportsman who would shoot bird simply to show the steadiness with which he can hold a
 gun, the accuracy of his sight along
 the gun barrel and the precision with
 which he can pull trigger? The cat acting by an instinct seeks to satisfy
 hunger, but the sportsman seeks to de-
 stroy life simply for the pleasure of
 filling.
 Outside of my study window as I
 write, among the snowy apple blossoms, a little brown sparrow rests for mo- ment upon twig, cooking his dainty
 head to one side, looking sharply about
 him with his bright eyes, displaying his
 
 wings, compact muscular body and complete and pretty form In a mo-
 ment more he hops from twig to twig,
 from blossom to blossom, picking mor-
 sel here and there, chirping with great content and apparently enjoying life to the full. He is Joined in a moment by
 an oriole whose wings are black with stripes of white feathers and whose
 orange colored breast seems to have caught the rich color of the clouds of sunrise, as he scared and sang his morning song, so rich and brilliant IS his raiment. To these third bird with golden breast and brown wings joins himself and the trio feed on the tree with great delight If I had any one of these birds in my a hand mere
 pressure of my thumb and finger would
 silence the song and still the life of the
 bird forever. But what right would I have thus to take the little creatures
 life? If any creature may claim ex
 emption from cruelty and from untime- ly death, surely bird may claim it. The psalmist has said that man Is
 fearfully and wonderfully made. The little bird is also wonderfully made. Its bones are penetrated with air cells
 which are so related to the lungs that
 they can be filled with air, thus giving lightness and buoyancy and even in ereasing its power of song. Its body is perfectly moulded and beautifully formed, fitted for all its movements and to delight the eye of the beholder. The brain of bird is large in proportion to it's body. In man the brain Is from 1-33 to 1-22 part of the weight of the entire body; in the sparrow 1t is the 1-25 part, and in a canary 1-14 part of the weight of the body. It's little brain is filled with intelligence and it's body serves its will with considerable skill Birds are architects. Some are miners and make excavations for their homes; some are masons and build their houses
 of mortar; some are carpenters and cut places for their nests in trees; some are platform builders and, like the eagle, build a platform for their young. Birds are endowed with affection. Their
 songs are love-songs, used in courtship, 1 for the lover serenades his beloved 1 they mate and marry as do men and | women and their love is loyal, their | fidelity true. Birds have parental love ! which impels them with anxiety and care with thought and labor with 1 courage and carefulness to protect and
 rear their young. Their beauty Is i marked, and their colors embrace al
 most, or altogether all the colors.
 Some are brown like the earth; some i golden as though they lived among dandelions and buttercups; some are blue as though they had bathed in the sky and taken it's color; some orange and crimson as though they had scared among the sunset clouds and had l caught their brilliant glow and glory. | Birds, for the most part, are innocent I and also useful, protecting trees and
 crops from the destructive ravages of
 many insects. Surely their beauty in l te1ligence, skill. musical power and
 usefulness should form panoply for their production. But they are continu- ally destroyed by man; sometimes be-
 cause of some slight injury which they | do and because of ignorance of their
 usefulness; sometimes in mere sport: and sometimes because avarice has awakened and may be gratiffed by | their destruction.
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