The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1906-02-02
Prof. Pearson Pleads for a Law
to Protect Them From
THE ~DESTROYERS.
Who Murders Them at All Seasons for
the Cruel Sport Of Seeing Them
Die. Birds Are Among the
Best Friends Of the
Parnl-r.

birds at the State house In Columbia
Prof. Pearson spoke as follows:
"Geptlemen Of the Legislature Of
South Carolina:
ut gives me much pleasure to
come before you tonight In the oapac
ity of q representative OF that won
>derfui olasa CT animals to which man.
kind ia perhaps more Indebted than
to all other groups OF wild animal life
combined.
1.-The wild birds every action Is a
movement for the bsGterment of man.
To the casual observer this Is not al.
ways apparent. While In q reflective
mood the moonlight song of the
hooking bird may family stir his sen
timent, or the honk Of the wild goose
may cause him to bark back to some
Incident Of Childhood; yet the sight
of o woodpecker stealing a mulberry
will so arouse his resentment against
the feathered race and cause the lust
Tor~hlood to so bedtm his eyes that he
will fail to~ses- the upending good
VIII oh the birds are doing.
The reason men do not care more
for birds Is because they know them
so little. The average person seldom
sees a wild bird except when 1t is
fleeing from him In mortal terror. II
you would really know their habits,
90 to some favorable point on the
border OF the woods and sit quietly
on some fallen tree or stump until the
biz s Of the neighborhuod have re
known men who did this to be utterly
astounded at what they saw
Among the fallen leaves On the
ground the thrasher, the thrush and
the towhee are industriouSly scratch.
ing for worms and insects. All
Though the shrubbery and bushes the
warblers are examining for places
where the insects live. Along the
trunks OF the trees the woodpeckers
and nuthatcherS and chickadees are
prying and peeping into every crack
or creVice whore q bug a hide. The
vireOes and orioles and tanagers are
leaving no leaf unturned among the
upper branches. While above all
there courses through the sky the
swallows and swifts which are strik
ing upon the wing those insects en-
deavoring to escape the consuming
fury beneath. Even at night the
work goes on; for then the whippoOI-
VIII, the bull bat and the owl popula.
tiOn is abroad.
All srmmer long this work of de.
structton continues, and when the
froSCS or winner have caused the In.
scot world to fall asleep, and we turr
to the bare brown fields, here II
every weed patch and sunny hillside
may be found f1ocks from the ID
species CT native South Carolina spar.
rows, eating the seeds Of the grass
and noxious weeds, which would
otherwise Sprou5 in the spring to
choke the farmers crops.
SS,Sut even now the work Of insect
destruction does rot CEASE; for all day
long the woodpeckers and nuthatches
and creepers and scanning the tree
trunks for the capsules of insect eggs
tackled away behind the bark against
the warm days Of spring when they
would hatch and the larvae come
forth like a scourge upon the leaves OF
the fruit and forest trees.
our government experts tell us
that One-tenth OF the entire agricul.
tural products Of South Carolina Is
annually a total loss from the rava.
ges OF insects, and many well informed
naturalists uniGe with the statement
that If 1T were not for the destructive
ness Of the wild birds, insects would
become so numerous az to shortly
render the earth uninhabitable by
men.
South Carolina Is naturally rich In
bird lfn Ernn1 tho on,,ptol,n a. A..
sea the species number something
over 800. Each species has a part TO
play In the great comedy CT natures:
although the good which somo do is
much more apparent than the good
wrought by others.
Here is the way we have treated
the birds Of Carolina. There are men
within the sound OF my voice who can
remember the times when llocks OF
wild pigeons passed over this region
In such numbers that a single flight
would be hours In passing a given
point, and the shadow OF whose wings
would fall like the darkness from q
storm cloud. The pigeon viii always
be here said our people. 'Lo, let US
slay and eat, and shoot for sport and
fatten Il hogs upon the bodies Of
the pigeon Today the pigeon is
gone, and probably no man In his
room, the age Of the speaker. Las
ever see a passenger pigeon wild In
the State OF South Carolina.
The ivory. billed woodpeoker, the
largest of that noble family, has be-.
come extinct In this State.
THE only parrot found In North
America, named the Carolina pato.
quet because Of Its abundance In
Carolina, Is now extinct within the
borders Of this State.
When some years ago the cry went
forth from New York for feathers OF
birds with which TO supply the MILL.
merry trade, the Carollna8 became the
great field Of activity e the plume
hunters.
Vessels were fitted out with pro
visions and ammunition for a long
cruise, and the hunters visiting the
great colonies OF the breeding sea
birds on the coasts Of the CIrOlinas
and Georgia shot obese beautiful
creatures literally by the million TO
obtain their feathers, and tho or
phaned young by untold thosands left
to perish mjserably on our sandy
beaches. 1t was in these States that
the plume hunters reaped their rich.
est harvest. For here In our c0ngenial