Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1904-02-04
A Protest Again, It the Legal Killing Of
Songblrds.


songblrds.
Residents Of New Jersey, whether or not
they be interested in birds, should spare no
effort to prevent the passage Of the bills
recently introduced into the Senate and
Assembly, which permit the killing al GER
tain times Of robins, catbirds, meadow Iarks,
fiickers or golden-wioged woodpeckers, and
doves
There are three reasons why these bills
should not become laws
First Because the birds mentioned IN
devouring noxious insects and the seeds Of
weeds are OF inestimabIe value to The State
Granted that robins and catbirds destroy
fruit. does it follow that the birds do more
harm than good Ilt bird is the property
OF the State, not Of The individual. The
laws Of the State are designed to provide
for the welfare Of the many, NOT Of the
few When it is shown that the robins
and catbirds are more destructive than
beneficial, then the State will be justified
in destroying Them. Until, however. the
birds have been proved to be guilty We
not warranted in condemning them
the meantime fruitgrowers can protect thei5
crops by using firearms charged with
powder alone quite as readily as by using
shot and firing with intent to kill 81
| Second There can be no more certain
method Of having the State overrun with
pot hunting Italians than to add robins,
flickers and doves to the list Of birds which
may be legally killed in the fall.
With few exceptions this list is now con
| fined TO game birds which are pursued BY
true spertsmen whom game wardens can
readily distinguish from the sneaking song
bird killer. q, however, we legalize the
| ki ing Of even few songbirds we not only
practically remove protection from them
ali, but we invite invasion from horde Of
| Ignorant foreigners to whom trespass signs
viii be uninselIigible. and Who will not
only murder our birds 81 the thonsand but
! incidentally steal more Hais t2an The birds
eauld rob us Of Iii asntssI Is6 e|
farmer recall that melons. peaches, peaIsI
and apples, not ts mention garden truck
of many kinds, ripen at the very tims when
it is proposal to give fruit-loTing foreign
gunners legal excuse to prowl armed
about the country Asa New jersey fruit
grower j speak here from an altogether too
practical experience
Third Birds, especially songbirds, and
more particularly those species Ct song
birds which because of their abundance and
trpstfulness enter into our daily ives, have
value net to be expressed in dollars and
cents The robin and the meadowlark, in
New Jersey, are the musicians of Springs
advance guard. In all the year is there
more CHEEKY note than the robins carol
| from the topmost bough Of leafless elm or
maple some March evening when frogs are
croaking in the lowlands? Is is voice
which appeals to constantly increasing
multitude as nature study classes open our
eyes and ears to the charms of the world
about u.s. It is message from bird to man
in the universal language OF music and its
force cannot be ignored. # the English
sparrow spoke the robins tongue,
he would have as many friends as he now
has enemies.
i In preserving the Palisades from the
attack Of qaarriers, residents Of New Jersey
have given iudubitable proof Of their love.
for the beautiful in nature No considers
tions Of paving blocks and crushed stone, sE
their equivalents in the coin Of the re- An
were permitted to outweigh the cls .ims d
these rocky walls to exist solely J ,ecause o
their beauty and grandeur. Ou' birds have
an even stronger claim to protection, f.,
they are not only beautiful out incalcuIablv
useful, and their care is .emanded not oply
by self-interest but by that broader septS-
ment which has saye-u for us the noble ram
lparts Of the Hudson
FRANK NJ CHAPMAN.
EHglewood. N j., Jan. q. 1904.
The above protest is from an authority on
birds, Prof Frank NJ Chapman, the we'll
d known writer and student OF bird life. The
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