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Show ONE OF PRIZE ESSAYS ; BY SCHOOL CHILDREN One of the prii;e-wlnnlng essays on Birds" bv the students of the lower grades of' the city schools was won bv Nellie Fowler, twelve years old, of the Tingree school, and is as follows Birds. Why should we protect uch tiny things as birds? Do we kill them? The very reason we protect them is because boys go out with alfgUM and kill these tlnv birds that do so much good to man They are killed in different dif-ferent wavs; some by boys, others by crown people It Is dreadful the way a woman decorates her hat, with the bird's plurn8e They not only kill one bird, but the babies of the moth cr bird The birds are also driven away from the homes they have worked so hard on The English sparrow Is a dreadful lichter and drives away most of our best workers. The bluebird Is a valuable bird to man. He is called so because the upper part of his body is a beautl ful blue. It Is one of the prettiest birds we have Although the upper part of the body is blue, the breast and throat is a dirty red It is a very small bird The bluebird Is a rather swift bird, always on the wing. The Rocky mountain bluebird is about seven inches long. 1 hey are trustful if around people whom they can trust. They are a species of the thrush, and one of America's native birds. The bluebird has a beautiful modu lated song, and Is noted for it. It Is said when the pioneers came here, the bluebird sang to them, and his voice seemed to ryhme For its food, it eats the little in sects that harm man so much It does good but really doesn t think of that when It is eating a nice fat inbecL They build their nest in a hole In a tree or In a mall box. They usual ly have them in plain sight. The are very trustful to build their nests in such places, and we should never lake advantage and rob them. If we do, It certainly shows that we are cowards The bluebird is often written about in literature Wilson wrote a beautiful beauti-ful poem about him, to show hl6 alue It is: "He flits through the orchards He visits each tree. The red flowering peach, and the apples' sweet blossoms, The fruit bearing products, wherever they be And seizes the caitiffs, that lurk in their bosoms; He drags the vile grub from the corn It devours, The worms from their beds where they riot and welter; His song and his services freely are ours, And all that he asks is, iu summer a shelter." Is it not a beautiful poem? He is valuable because he eats the Insects that destroy crops We will leave our bluebird now. while he Is busily devouring a cornworm. Are all birds like the bluebird, to the people? All of them do just as much good for us. but the English sparrow. Men can drive beasts out of the land, should they come in, but can they drive the Insects out that are already In their crops destroying them'.' No. this is left for our faith ful birds, who do their duty, and sometimes lose their lives by doing so. When men 6ee a bird on one of their trees or in the crops, they run get their guns, and the little bird who Is doing good gets killed. Some birds are noted for their beautiful voices, some for their plumage, but men take that away to decorate them-selves them-selves with. But all of our birds, we are sorry to 6ay, are not valuable. Our English Eng-lish sparrow not only being a pest to man, which Is bad enough, also drives away our songsters and friends We don't protect the sparrow, but destroy it. because It destroys other birds. All people are punished for doing wrong, and so is the sparrow. As Ogden is a civilized city, they ought to make laws to protect the birds. They should fine anyone who even tries to kill a bird unless It Is the English sparrow Boys with air-guns air-guns and flippers should be punish ed to the full extent of the law. NELLIE FOWLER, Plngree School. 1 |