Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-27
Id a home is even more reprehen-
Work Amono Children

work Among CnlluTeU
To stimulate public interest In bird
protection and to make more generally
known such facts as these, the ma
tional association has been carrying
on a systematic educational movement
among the children of the country, to-
bring them to an appreciation OF the
esthetiC side as we'll as the patriotH
one of preventing the determination
of rare American species. Leaflets
have been issued i'm large editions, de-
scribing the birds of this country, with
colored plates, and an outline OF the
bird which the children can color in
crayon from observation, or with the
teachers instruction. To strengthen
the impression i'm the chld's mind,
coored plates showing the types
found in that locality are provided,
so that an acquaintance with the ex-
act type will insure the child's recog-
nizing the various species of birds on
sight. Full confidence is felt that as
soon as the Juvenile mind, unhampered
by commercial considerations, learns
something of the life history of Amer
lean birds, there will no longer be
room for the development of any ten
dency to harm them willfully. IF we
can teach the coming generation the
facts of the life history and value of
American birds" commented Mr..
butcher, eve will give them taste
for the proper protection of birds and
the enforcement of all laws with this
object In view"
Shore birds especially are in need Of
greater protection, in the opinion of
Mr.. butcher. There are eleven species
of small shore birds, some of them
not larger than sparrows, but, un-
fortunately, some belong to the game
bird class. Some of these, known as
"Ltmicolae,' should be removed from
this class to that of non-game birds, |
experts believe, If determination is to
be prevented. The ornithologists in !
session here now have passed a reso-
luton looking to this end, and have
recommended such a law to the legis-
latures of all North America Of the |
necessity for such action Mr.. butcher |
said:
Threatened with determination
"In North Carolina, in single spring |
season, 10000 of these small shore birds |
were killed and some species are dam
gerously near determination. Were |
the elimination of a single sepcies the
only harm done it would be bad |
enough. But the resultant evils are
even worse and more far-reaching. |
For instance, the killdeer, which is shot |
ostenSibly as q game bird, is of in |
estimable value to cotton growers, as
1t kills the boil weevil, a pest which |
has done untold damage TO succeeding |
crops and to exterminate which the |
government is spending thousands of |
dollars. Yet people in ignorance, or
for the sake of sport, as they view it,
have been destroying the killdeer. The
bird is too small to have any great |
food value, SO that it's indiscriminate |
slaughter has been principally for mil
linery purposes. We have found in
stances where the bodies have been |
thrown away and only the plumage /
taken, so that this disposes of any con-
tention that the killdeer is shot as
game bird. AS it lives in plowed |
fields principally and gets all it's food
from the ground it is a valuable aid |
to the farmer and cotton grower and |
should be protected for the manifold |
reasons mentioned.
1.-THE wood duck is another species |
which is in danger of determination, |
and to prevent such a misfortune the |
Audubon societies are advocating a
closed season for ten years, in order |
to enable it to recuperate it's wasted
ranks. The wood duck is the most
beautiful Of all North American ducks
and its plumage is it's death warrant. |
It's protection should be enioined upon
the legislatures of all the states where |
it exists"
Aigrettes Condemned Il
The movement to stop the use of |
aigrettes, TO which President and Mrs |
Roosevelt have given their support, is |
now one of the principal aims of Au-
dubon members. Concerning this prop |
aganda Mr.. butcher said:
1--WE are trying to stop the use of
aigrettes by working along two lines
first, by moral suasion, and, when that |
fails, by harassing the milliners. I do |
not care if you use that word. EN-
phatic speech and action are needed. |
The small white heron is the bird which |
provides aigrettes. 1t is found along |
the southern Atlantic and gulf coast, |
down into South America. Milliners
claim that all the plumes they sell are
of foreign origin, from South or Cen
trail America, southern Europe, north