The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-05-29
PROTECT THE BIRDS NEST
are Not Allowed to Destroy the EGGS
Of Song Birds and Insect Eaters.
Progressive Farmer.)

awoke about almost every home OF il
Progressive Farmer readers the songs
OF numerous birds; for this is not
only the spring OF the year with the
fruit grower, the farmer and the fish
erman, but it is the spring Of the wild
things as well.
It is now that there is being con
structed On every hand tx
amples Of that wonderful type OF ar
~chltecture which no man can dupli-
cate namely the bird nest Every
nest is the centre Of interest and de-
yotin Of a pair OF the happiest AMI
most useful Of Gods wild creatures.
The nest is lot built as a home in the
n Of a resting and sleeving place
for birds, but is made as a safe de-
pository for the eggs and a cradle for
the young.
| presume that eve since civilized
boy first walked the earth and watch
ed the birds as they sang and loved
and built their nests there has peer a
feeling in the embryonic masculine
brain that it was good TO rife the
! nests Of their contents. This sol. of
FCAAOllISAA oCCAAS cSSdSUOlld4IS 10 D- 50
deeply implanted in the mind of a
boy that in mature years the lust tor
unnecessary slaughter still abides with
him.
Some years ago the writer saw a
man tWenty-one years old shoot d
mother robin as she sat on her nest.
CHANGING to pass that way TWO days
later. | found the remains still in
place on the nest. the head hanging
downward over the rim, swinging
desolate in the evening wind. Gu
riOsity led me up the tree and out
the long limb to the nest. Then |
discovered that when death came t.
the bird she was bTo0ding her newly
hatched young. To these, however,
death had now mercilessly come and
the ants were doing the rest. In
CURED carefully into the home train
ing Of the man behind the gun, and
learned hat al the age of twelve he
begun a collection of bird eggs With
two or three companions and had
patrolled the neighborhood with
great care robbing every nest which
could he found; even those eggs
which bore evidences Of being % lar
advanced in incubation that at was
Impossible to blow the contents
through the small holes made at eth
CT end of the egg, were also taken-
the boys explaining that if they tGok
these, the birds would build another
nest and the next time they could set
nice fresh eggs for their collection.
HIS accumulation of eggs did not
bear the least evidences of having
been gathered by scientific methods.
They were not even gathered in
Clutches" there was no record OF
the location of the nest, number OF
eggs which the nest contained, state
of advancement in the incubation,
materials of which the nest was com
posed, habits of the birds, and other
data, always carefully preserved III
scientific collections. The boy appar-
emily had no real love for this work,
his chief object being to gather more
eggs than his rivals. The collection,
Of course, was SOON deprived Of his
care; mice got to them and ate the
shells. Now, when he was grown to
a man this destructive instinct caused
him to take pleasure in such wanton
cruelyt as shooting a parent bird on
it's nest. This boys parent always
allowed him to rob the nests of birds
Or shoot the old ones at pleasure not
realizing the hardening effect which
such a life was having on the sensi-
bilities of the child.
What chance is there of cultiva-
ting in the mind Of a boy, thus train
ed, any appreciation for the high n
beautiful things of lie? Aside from
the evil which a boy like this does &c
his own character, he also greatly
wrongs the community. by wantonly
destr> ing the lives Of useful birds.
The r n belongs t. the thrush fam
lily, all . representatives of which
are wide.y known for their value as
d%estroyers Of insects and ae more or
less famed for the beauty of their
song.
The above is but one example Of
thousands of instances which occur
every spring in North Carolina and
Throughout the Suoth. The chief rea-
son for this useless destruction OF
bird life by destroying their nests, is
due to the thoughtlessness of parents.
So many people do not stop to think
that the bird has a place on the farm
and a work t o do, otherwise Coz
would not have placed it there.
The State AUDUBON society mas
published and distributed thousands
of leaflets giving detailed informa-
ton regarding the feeling habits and
the economic value of Jul common
birds of the State. These leaders
may be had by request from this Of
fee, and it is our desire to place them
in the hands Of every man in North
Carolina who has been intrusted by
kind Providence with the rearing and
instruction of children.
1t is morally wrong to rob the
nests of useful birds and it is a viola
ton OF the laws of the State to De
so. The birds egg lis a beautiful thing
but the proper place for it is in the
nest.
T. GILBERT PEARSON.
Secretary of the State Audubon So