Show Destruction of the Song Birds I The former wealth of bird music infield in-field and grove here in Connecticut cannot can-not well be understood by those who have grown up since the destructive warfare war-fare on birds began It is a wonder in fact not that so few but that any are left when we consider the variety of shapes in which disaster overtakes our singing birds Not to mention the many j thousands that are destroyed in the egg I or nest by marauding boys and sped men collectors the further destruction I colectord their of the migrating birds by dashing lives out against the lanterns of an endless end-less string of lighthouses along the coast for their journey is mostly performed at night is far larger than is isgenerally supposed sup-posed and would seem to be enough to decimate them I we add to this the ruthless wholesale slaughter of some specieslike the bobolink for example by gunners along the Delaware and rivers further south who devote the birds to stews and pies there need be no further looking for the cause of the marked diminution of this most rollick of songster ing and once very abundant our May and June grassfields Yet the introduction of the moying machine with the earlier grass cutting that has accompanied I additional explanation I companied it supplies an planation of a part of the general disappearance of the bobolink He is not I found pearance elsewhere than in as a songster esewhere these charming fields of our northland in the perfect months of May and June and his peculiar rollicking tinkling swaggering melody was one of the charms of such scenes at that happiest time in the year Perhaps his extermination cannot be stopped but this wholesale destruction de-struction of all sorts of song birds including in-cluding our finest singer the brown thrasher and all just to supply feathered ornaments for womens hats is a little too bad I the women would be content with the European sparrow now unfortunately unfor-tunately naturalized in this country nobody no-body would offer a word of opposition Hartford Time |