The Minneapolis journal., 1903-04-11
Protecting the Birds.

OppO1 lUu1LlSS Ol our own SldLS.
Protecting the Birds.
In a new country destruction goes hand
in hand with construction. Natural
wealth, the plant and animal life, are
ruthlessly made way with to assist the
creation Of artificial wealth. Sometimes
this destruction is necessary and some
times it is inevitab BILE, but much of it is due
to the habit of destroying. The lumber
man becomes careless of trees and de-
stroys or endangers them most thought
lessly. There is no profit init for him to
forest fire and the drought for all he
cares. o. @.>-. ~
Out of the necessity of killing wild
game for food in the early days of settle
ment has partly come the still persistent
habit of killing every wild thing on sight.
The hunter prides himself on the number
of game birds he can kill, and calls it
sport; and like as not as he goes to his
enjoyment he practices" on the hawks
and owls and various small birds he may
meet by the way. But it is not only
wanton killing that is responsible for the
threatened determination of birds. They
are killed by the millions to furnish bar
baric ornaments for the hats of tender
women. They are killed just as the pres
| ent day lumbermen destroy the forests,
without any thought of propagation Of the
| species. . = = :
But now that we have got by the first
| days Of the occupation5of a land brimming.
full of animal and Vegetable life, and
have learned, to our surprise, that we are
quite capable Of discriminating both, a.
sentiment favoring their preservation and
protection has sprung up. We have for
estry societies now and forestry laws and
forestry reserves, and even scientific lum-
bering. The sportsman has learned to
protect the game birds against more than
a limited amount of slaughter, and thou
sands of friends of the other birds have
come to their assistance against the mer-
/ cenary market hunter. '-.:.@~
| Nor even here is it only matter of
sentiment and love of nature. The farm
zer and gardener haYeslsarned how useful
i i the birds are to thenfS sand as a very prac-
Itical measure are doing all they can to
Iprotecte them. Sss8#@
ssA This good work IS being organized by
the American Ornithological union, and
! the national committee of the Audubon
societies. These bodies strive continuous
t.ly for better laws for the protection of
4 birds to teach the 1S,000,000 school chill
4 dren why the birds Should be protected,
to inform the farmer Of the good the
birds do him, to secure the enforcement
OF, game and. bird laws and in general to
do anything and everything that will pre-
vent the determination Of the birds.
4 There is much work to do The So
cieties. got to- work Just in time to save
the terms of the Atlantic coast from ex-
ermination. Recently $4,000 snow bunt-
sings were. found IN, a Single cold storage
house in an eastern city, and such beau
i tiful birds as flickers are offered for sale
made up for millinery ornaments. On the
4 North Carolina coast 10000 sand pipers
have been killed for their plumage and
their bodies thrown away. Only one flock
of famingos remain in Florida, and these
are IN danger of destruction. The slaugh-
ter Of bird life in that state is sickening,
though the state laws may preserve the
remaining species.
Largely through the efforts Of the So
cieties all of the states except the Da-
kotas,: Montana, Idaho, Washington, Ne
vada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New
Mexico, Kansas, Indian Territory, Ar
| A. Il rao, -
have enacted bird laws. The ornithologi-
cal unions model law has been adopted by
the Northwest Territory of Canada an6
4 for Alaska by congress, thus giving pro.
lection to the breeding grounds of many
Il species. In some Of the states that have
laws additional legislation is needed. The
Il Minnesota law is defective in that i
makes the turtle doves game birds ant
J does not protect beneficial hawks.
Between the organized work of thes,
. societies and the great number of person!
now making study Of birds and therefor
interested in them and their preservation
the outlook is very hopeful for the littl
; creatures.
Dr. J. s.. Hill, president of the Morris
town, Tenn, normal and industrial col
lege for negroes, who is now in Mime
Iapolis, remarks that the negro has a bet
ter chance to earn living in the soutl
, than in the north. This is undoubtedl.
true, and it is because the prejudic
in the south against the negro is not o
the kind that objects to working side b
side with him. The result is that ther
are many fewer trades open to the negr
in the north than in the south. Let u
give the south creditor all that is due II
It is only a question of the time require
) for the new~idea to take root here and 70
; the introduction of the right kind of ma
+ chinery. when the immense Ignite de
posits of the United States will begin t
5 supply a superior quality of fuel to- TIL
) population living within reach of them
Z 1t is Impossible to read such a repor
as the consul general at Berlin has jus