The Portland daily press., 1897-06-29
Senator Hoar's "Bird. Petition.

Senator Hoar's "Bird. Petition.
The petition which was instrumental in
getting the Massachusetts law prohibiting
the wearing of song and insectivorous
birds on woinen's hats is said to have
been written by Senator Hoar. The Pc
tition read as follows:
To the Great and General Court of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts:
We, the song birds of Massachusetts
and their playfellows, make this, our
humble petition. We know more about
you than you think we do. We know how
good you are. We have hoped about
The roofs and looked in at the windows
of the houses you have built for poor and
sick and hungry people, and little lame
and deaf and blind children. We have
built our nests in the trees and sung
many a song as we flew about the gardens
and parks you have made 80 beautiful
for your children, especially your poor
children, to play in. Every year we fly a
great way over the country, keeping all
warm. And we know that whenever you
do anything the other people all over
this great land between the seas and the
great lakes find it out, and pretty soon
will try to do the sa1fe. We know. We
know.
We are Americans just the same as you
are. Some of us, like some of you, came
across the great sea. But most Of the
birds like us have lived here for long
while; and the birds like US welcomed
your fathers when they came here many,
many years ago. Our fathers and mothers
have always done their best to please your
fathers and mothers.
Now we have sad story to tell you.
Thoughtless or bad people are trying to
destroy us. They kill us because our
feathers are beautiful. Even pretty and
sweet girls, who we should. think would
be our best friends, kill our brothers and
children SO that they may wear our plu-
mage on their hats. sometimes people
kill us for mere wantonness. Cruel boys
destroy our nests and steal our eggs and
our young ones. People with guns and
SHARES lie in wait to kill us; as if the
place for bird were not in the sky.
alive, but in shop wine ow or in glass
case. If this goes on much longer all our
song birds will be gone. Already we are
told in some other countries that used to
be full of birds, they are now almost
gone. Even the nightingales are being
killed in Italy.
Now we humbly pray that you will
stop all this and will save us from this
sad fate. You have already made law
that no one shall kill harmless song birds
or destroy our nests or our eggs. Will
you please make another one that no one
shall wear our feathers, SO that no one
shall kill us to get them? We want them
all ourselves. Your pretty girls are pretty
enough without them. We are told that
it is as easy for you to do it as for a
blackbird to whistle.
If you will, we know how to pay you
a hundred times over. We will teach
your children to keep themselves clean
and neat. We will show them how to live
together in peace and love; to agree as we
do in our nests. We will build pretty
houses which you will like to see. We
will play about your gardens and flower
without any cost to you. Wewill destroy
the wicked insects and worms that spoil
your cherries and currants and plIlms and
apples and roses. We will give you our
best songs, and make the spring more
beautiful and the summer sweeter to you.
Every June morning when you go out in
to the field, oriole and bluebird and black
bird and bobolink win fly after you and
make the day more delightful to you.
And when you go home tired after sun
down vesper sparrow will tell you how
grateful we are When you sit down on
your porch after dark, hfebird and her
nit thrush and wood thrush will sing to
you; and even whip-poor-will will cheer
you up little. We know where we are
safe. In little while all the birds will
come to live in Massachusetts again, and
everybody who loves music will like to
make a summer home with you.
The signers are: