Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1904-01-07


lures and ravens: owls. Upwards am
other hawks prey upon noisome 10
dents and venomous reptiles; but all O.
tribes the insectivores are the mos
numerous, their services the most val
liable. Vermin would destroy the
grain in the west, the cotton in the
south, and the fruit wherever it grows
IL plrds were not near to defend then
until tney rlpen. Examinations made
W scientists of the digestive organs OF
many varieties of birds have demon
strated that they chiefly feed upon in
sects; they also show the kind of in
sects that each species prefers. Their
suptle senses are directed by almost
human intelligence; and they are ant
to select of all the food within their
reach what is best adapted for them
and for their offspring, and what wou,d
nJure by its presence if they did moi
destroy it.
ASIDE from the debt of gratitude we
owe for their usefulness, birds claim
our affection by the charm of their
presence. They are types of ioyful
Dilss and symbols of absolute liberty
Where the color of their plumage is
ADDED to the harmony of their voices
ana the grace of their motion. thew
will turn a barren wildness into a per-
Iect paradise. Many a heart would
SINK were songsters not nigh win
sweet melody to raise it. The ancient
Greeks called birds lords of the air. >
Syrlans built affairs for their worship;
Romans had such an exalted opinion
OF their sagacity that they augured
the fortune of distant legions bv the
manner of their flight. Birds grace
fnl wings were applied to the Shout
ders OF favorite gods, and we continue
to borrow them for the angels of our
own imagination, but we lay no OBJ
stacles in the way of divers enemies
! that persecute them.
Inc nercest OF them all, the iomes-
tic cat, we permit in our garden and
orchard to prowl and to make the art
less bird his prey before he has time
TO fly. Instead of checking, we coun-
tenance the enormous natural increase
OF cats until it is estimated that 5 .OOO.-
600 OF them annually kill some 10000
GOO birds. A license fee is exacted for
keeping a watchful dog; why should
not this RUE apply, as it does in some
places already, to the more dispensable
cat? A German household must nav
q small fee for the privilege of keeping
single cat Rewards for unlicensed
cats are offered by officials against de-
livery of their carcasses. Where fe-
lines vanish, birds reappear; and
guarding trees against worms, they
agument their fruit. In watching the
young OF pair of European jays, DR..
Brewer has found that they consumed
half a million caterpillars in one sea
son.
Besides illiterate Italians, unre.
strained American boys indulge in the
mlschlevous pastime of manning or
killing flying birds with firearms or
peashooters, and in robbing nests of
the eggs they find. Such practices are
prohibited by municipal regulations in
every city. but laws are disregarded in
suburban districts where nobody is
delegated to enforce them. The stat
utes which at certain seasons protect
game birds are better observed. be-
cause an officer always looks out for
transgressors. The only means to
prevent brutality is to implant kind
ness during early childhood in the
hearts of our boys; and, when they
grow older. arouse their interest in
animal life by competent teachers of
Nature, a study which has long been
made compulsory by the colleges in
Europe, but of which pupils of public
schools and some learned institutions
in this country are still allowed to re-
main ignorant.
1t is hard to realize how bad taste
some women as to make them deadly
foes of the feathered tribes Women
xbO are bound to satisfy cruel de-
for the feathers that inexorabIe
pm demands allow whole species
rds to be exterminated The
VI Tie oOutH are kllleu WUl1e
treed in order to procure their
me bridal Dlumage, and their
ire left to die. These birds
\crayfish, which by tunneling
4 levees of Louisiana. cause
Manage. Millions of hum
)adise birds are sacrificed
nRle vanity. Unless
>poliation eventually
1ibes, the plumes
and please the
IS for the proven
mails have made
wild birds, al
useful and de-
as domesticated
csc associations
police powers,
prosecute not
of birds, but
foolish WON
hers. Won
c should be
Lucerne,
caught