The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-04-02
IN BEHALF OF THE BIRDS
M ENCOURAGED. THE FEATHERED
seSGsTERs DO Not FEAR MAN.
They soon Discover Their Friends
and show CONFERENCE.-The in
EngIand-In Crowded Cities.


without duplicating too deeply the wander
ing sportman or the wayward small boy.
He Acknowledges both TO be guilty TO
trifiing extent, but so small are their dep
relations they are hardly worth mentioning;
in like manner he passes lightly over the
much-abused women OF fashion who insist
on wearing feathers like Indians, and falls
upon the unsuspecting farmer who Is 0nno-
Gently. We presume) destroying both song
and game birds The author then proceeds
with ingenious arguments and finely
wrought theories 10 convict the honest tiller
OF the soil. With commendsble frankness
he admits that the villain (ny word)
who collects skins and feathers, who
supplies museums miliner shops. etc,
etc. Is bad fellow; he kills for
money. Still. his slaughterings, numerous as
they certainly are. seem insignificant COM
pared with the enormous decrease in bird
nfe" Then he makes out his case against
his fellow-co untryman, or, more broadly
speaking. against the march of civilization,
which demands the retaining of the waste
lands. the destruction OF the forests, the
cleaning up OF brier patches, and all those
improvements that the thrifty husbandman
loves 10 undertake, thus making rural life
bearabe. II not attractive; for life on the
farm under the most favorable conditions
Is not one long holiday. In fact. to the vast
majority who toll i'm the fields the days come
and go with a weary monotony that Is most
depressing. with little TO cheer the heart
reward the hand for its ceaseless labor.
But let US look into this matter a
little closer and see if our country
cousins are actually guilty TO the
extent 10 which Mr.. Thompson would
have US believe; If so we must change our
tactics and turn our guns on the real enemy
of bird life instead OF wasting so much am
munition on an imaginary foe. To start
with, let take look at the fields and
forests of Engiand-fieids that have been
titled for centuries; forests that have been
beaten by successive generations of sports
men. yet we find birds in great abundance,
especially are the singing members in evil
dence during the spring days when the very
air seems 10 vibrate with the rich melody
poured forth from myriad threats. Even
the nightingale, sweetest and shyest of all
the winged musicians, still holds its own,
and the skylark continues to soar in
triumph. recklessly scattering his sllvery
notes to the winds to charm every true son
of Britain.
Birds of the wilderness,
Blithesome and cumberless
Sweet be thy matin o. er moorland and Leaf
Emblem Of happiness.
Riest Is thy dwelling place,
o TO abide in the desert with thee!''
Then we find the red breast English rob-
IND and the wren lowering about the very
dOorways Of every rural dwelling, taking
possession of any spot that strikes their
fancy and there building their nests and
rearing their broods IN perfect safety. Even
though the location selected may incon-
venienee the cottager to a considerable de-
-sw :, yet will he and his good wife and
children submit gracefully to the encroach-
ment of the little tyrants.
A LITTLE TRESPASSER.
We read OF saUcy wren, who, quite re-
CARELESS of the rights of the proprietor,
seized upon the kitchen pump. building
therein his curious nest, using the spout
for a thoroughfare; strange TO relate, the
bold intruder and his mate were allowed
TO rear their brood in peace, for, rather
than disturb the usurpers. the good man
loosened a board in the platform and drew
the water by means OF rope and pail. Many
such instances might be cited, but one is
sufficient 10 show how the song birds are
encouraged and protected by all classes I'm
England; in fact. love and reverence for the
feathered tribe Is characteristic or the rural
residents OF the British isles. Leaving the
villages and the Isolated cottages, we find
the hedges and broken walls teeming with
bird life. Conspicuous alike for it's beauty
and erratic flight is the red start, flashing
in and out OF the hedge that add so
much to the beauty Of the English land
scape
But the catalogue OF British birds that
continue 20 flourish In spite of close cultiva-
ton OF the soil. and in the face of popula-
ton four times as dense as our own, is
altogether too extensive to be given here:
-, -.
that both song and game birds find food
and protection in land where fields were
carefully titled for generations prior to the
discovery OF the Western world Here flour
ish the song thrush or throstle, the black
~hird. the numerous family of fnehes. In
GLIDING those well-knowr members the
green and the golden: and. in spite of farm
err hunter and small boy. the snpe is still
common all over England: likewise the
woodchuck and, in their season. wild geese,
swans and ducks without number: all these
In defiance OF the birds OF prey. for here the
owl finds a home in every ruined tower and
the falcon, kestrel and goshawk inhabit the
wooden glens and those strips of forest
bordering the fens or moors-precious bits
where Dame Nature still reigns supreme;
and this In merry England. plowed. sowed
end reaped and plowed again through more
than ten centuries, swept from center 10
circumference by devastating armies and
sustaining to-day a population averaging
500 10 the square mile. Yet finding plenty of
room and plenty OF food for an innumerable
host OF native birds: all this in the face
OF the terrible sparrow and the villainous
Jay.
No SCARCITY OF SONGSTERS.
Similar conditions, / am told, exist In
France, Germany and the Netherlands.
where are found not only songsters, but all
such as delight the heart OF the hunter, and
which are slaughtered by the thousands in
season (never out. remember), for in the
markets OF London there is no lack OF ma
tive game birds. So great, indeed, is the
demand for the wheatear. or fallow chat,
that one pair Of hunters Is credited with a
catch exceeding one thousand birds In two
days trapping: Yet, withal. there seems no
scarcity Of birds in the United Kingdom;
therefore, are driven to the conclusion
that some other cause than the ever increas-
ing area OF cultivated land must be found
10 satisfactorily account for the constantly
decreasing foeks on this side the Atlantic
So / fear through I dread the consequence
Of the tmpeachment) that the dear ladies
vino still insist on initiating the savages in