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Show f ORNITHOLOGY. The Robin., A Notable Victory. S.nH. Goodwin. That is good news, brought by thei daily papers, of the great victory won !by the Audubon Society and its I friends in Louisiana, in behalf of thev Rvlbin. For years it has'Jbccn a notorious no-torious fact that pot-hurucrs were killing Robins by the -hundreds of thousands (the number is placed ..t one million for the past season by competent authorities) every winter iffi Jthe Creole state. That state, iin 13 common with Texas and Alabama, 4 Wd maintained an open season for . tho Robin, with the result already stated; they were hunted, as other game would be hunted, and exposed for sale in the market stalls. As a result of the vigorous campaign carried car-ried on by the National Audubon So-, So-, cicty, and its auxiliaries, during the Ipast four years, the people were led tol sec how closely the destruction of birds and especially of the Robin touched their material interests. The 3' work of these organizations was sup- ' L , , plcmcntcd by government experts who were sent into Louisiana to in- ' iv.cstigato the food habits of these if birds. When it was shown as a re-suit re-suit of these investigations that the , steady extension, eastward, of the dreaded Boll Weevil was partly due, or had been greatly facilitated, at al events, by the reckless destruction of I the Robins, the people "began to say things to their representatives in the State legislature, and soon enough of those representatives became sufficiently suffi-ciently sensative to the people's interests in-terests to carry through both houses a bill that removed the Robin from the game list. Of course, this commendable com-mendable action was not brought about without united, determined and continuous effort, for those who profited prof-ited by the destruction of the birds, did not give up without a. bitter struggle. strug-gle. The victory therefore, is all the more pleasing because it represents a triumph of larger and more humane interests over narrow and purely local, and selfish considerations. I This piece of much-needed legisla tion is of more than passing interest and -portance to us, and to all who live in any of the northern tiers of states. Many of the birds which go to Louisiana and other southern states for the winter, build their homes ..and- rear their broods among us. We have the benefit of their lit- u tle-raPPrcc'atcd but none the less real and valuable services through the spring, summer and fall months. Their ,work means' uncounted thousands of - J ' ' dollars to the tillers of the soil and the; growers of fruit. We therefore arc not going beyond the bounds of our interests and rights, when we rejoice re-joice over this victory for the Robin, orcven aid in securing similarrllcgis- . . 'i lation in states where our common interests in-terests are not properly protected. And in this matter, the benefits arc not all on the side of those who live where the birds have their summer homes. In this respect, as in others where the larger concerns of our common country arc involved, that which benefits one section may be of advantage to another. And besides, there is opportunity more there is a demand, for rcciprocativc action. Less than a year ago the Bureau of Biological Survey issued circular No. 56, entitled: "Value of Swallows as Insect Destroyers." The avowed object ob-ject of that circular was: "First, to make known the great value of swallows swal-lows as insect destroyers and to emphasize em-phasize the importance of protecting them wherever found; second, to widely publish the peculiar value of these ibirds in the war now being waged in the South against the cotton cot-ton boll weevil, and to ask for the cooperation co-operation of citizens of the Northern States where these -.birds chiefly nest, in an effort to increase their numbers.' num-bers.' No properly informed, right minded person would think of dc-stroyirfg dc-stroyirfg such highly useful birds a? the swallows every consideration makes against such action but in this circular we liave weighty reasons urged, not only for their protection, but also for definite action in the direction di-rection of encouraging their increase. The people of the south-land need the assistance of the wallows in their desperate battle with the boll weevil; one of the staples of the country is threatened, and these birds can aid in stemming the tide. And we can be of service to the cotton growers of the land by acting in accordance with the suggestions of the circular referred ,to, Likewise, when Louisiana, and other states to the south of us akc the Robin from the game 'J,t and extend to red-breast the protection accorded to other insectiverous birds, they render ren-der a positive service and touch inter- WJ&MS Yft?Mp, welfare of our people. t |