Page 4

 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
cause they kill young chickens and 
they suck eggs and they eat young 
birds and they destroy a lot of birds' 
eggs, and you ain't going to kick be- 
cause I killed that o0l jay, are you?" 
  Well, I want to say there are some 
jays that deserve extermination; the 
jay that works the individual mem- 
bers of opposing parties; diiring polit- 
ical contests, lie may deserve exter- 
mintation, but with Yorick its the old 
story--give a (log a bad name anli 
hiang him. '.verybholy hates a bluejay, 
and why? I really would like to have 
somebody   tell.  Be.cause Ie sucks; 
e'ggs and kills young i.hickens and cats 
other birds? '[hat is the indictmiuent. 
I said to Jake, "Jake, yior father is a 
fool, lie didn't know what he was talk- 
ing about. All the trouilue with your 
statement is simply that it is false." 
  The whoile trouble is prejudice, just 
the need of education. Professor Hin- 
shaw, of the Biological Survey, exam- 
ined the stinachs of 292 bluejays, ex- 
tending over a year and taken inI al- 
most every state and territory, a great 
many right in breeding time, and i 
will tell you what lie found, lie found 
in two of them the remains of birds 
and in three of them the remains of 
shells. Now, two of the three whose 
stonilics contaiieil shells wvere ,lot, 
one in October and the other the very 
list day of August. Birds do not breed 
very much at that time, so those wer, 
eggs that had been left in nests un- 
doubtedly. And who ('all say that the 
remains of the birds found in the 
stomachs of two others were not birds 
that had died in the nests and by the 
mother bird had been thrown to the 
ground ? 
   I want to defend Yorick, a fellow 
of infinite jest and mist excellent hli- 
mor. Ile used to love to whistle to 
the old shepherd (log when lie was 
asleep. He loved to mimic the fool 
hen, which, after laying an egg, wouhl 
cackle and call everylody's attention 
to the fact so birds without feathers 
could come and steal it. Ile was a 
good bit of a cynic and our relations 
had been cordial but not intimate, 
and that fellow shot him at my own 
door. Alas! poor Yorick! 
   Now, boys, see that,    Thiat is a 
rose-breasted grosbeak. I found him 
on the walk at Green Lake one morn- 
ing about six o'clock and I took him 
home and skinned him. I was going 
to address the school there on the 
subject of bird protection, and I took 
that melancholy specimen with mte. 
I said, "I hate to think that the boy 
who kihled that bird is here-no, I 
don't think lie is here. I think he ran 
away from si4lol after doing that." 
The skull had hbeen fractured with a 
stone from a sling shot, and I said. 
"I ain sorry for that boy; maybe hI' 
didn't know any better, but f wouldn't 
tell his name if f knew it, because 
you wouldn't like him. I ala sorry 
for his mother, because his mother 
probably thinks lie is going to grow 
up and le a tilue man. but," I said, 
"how   call a boy be anything who 
starts out in life as ai roldier  lie 
rolbiied you anld he robbed me, and he 
rotibed everybody that lovs exquisite 
melody and beauty and song. lie 
robbed the spring of something of 
its hea uty."' 
  T'[le next day a boy caiue u1) to niy 
house and they said lie wantel to see 
nie. I said, '"Send him into the of- 
tice." and he caine inl. I said, "hello, 
Billy, what is it. .. "Oh," lie said. 
"nothing very much!"    "What is it, 
Billy, what (1o you want to see me 
aboute"   "Nothing very much." TIe 
walked over and looked out the win- 
dow, aind] I couli see the side of his 
face; I saw his chin trembling a lit- 
tIe. so I said, "Billy. I won't tell any- 
body you killed that grosbeak."   lie 
tiurned around, and lie said, "Won't 
you tell ?"  "No, I won't tell." Tie 
said, "I don't think the fellows." wouhld 
care so, much, hut the girls wouldn't 
like ile, aml I think mly     mitlor 
wouid just 'spise me," that is the 
way he put it, "if she knew it," antd 
I saw he would never dTo that thing 
again. 
   A telephone company came to me, 
 they wanted to clear ul) a quarter of 
 a mile of tangle on the highway, and 
 I said. "I can't give you the right." 
 "Why t"  "Well, I don't own      it." 
 "But they told us you ownied it." 
 .'Well," I said, "tile birds have had 
 undisputed   possession for   twenty 
 years and gainedl title." 
   Now,-oh, Lord, I       ain't  half 
 through, and my time is more than 
 up. 
   Just leave a place for the birds, 
 give them a chance. 
  It is estimated that the destructioii 
of birds costs Anmrica eight hundred 
millions of   dollars annually, ail,, 
when tile time comes that the ]n-' 
lbird is slaughtered, life will cease. 
  You see I am making this plea f, 
the birds because of their ceonomi, 
value, I am making this plea for th 
birds because of the way they appe,ý 
to the thrift of man, to the intelle, 
mf nan, ornithology being one of th 
Ireost bailing, Inscrutable and wonidh. 
fuil antiing  the  s ,ie niecs. 
  I ain making this appeal for Ii 
birds on ai'i'uiut if the spirituial il 
lift they give us. The bird lover (,., 
the wings of the bird hIi' loves, 1: 
somie true suns', is lifted  up, ill),  l. 
where Alps oii Alps rise, to those fi 
heights where lie could never eliai, 
alnme, and this was the feeling in th,. 
heart of the poet Bryant, when 6. 
wvatchiel the wonderful waterfowl tai.& 
her flight and cried out: 
  "Thu ic'rt gone, the abyss of heailve 
Ilath swallowwed up thy form ; yet wi 
         my le4iTrt 
I)eejlvy has suink the lesson thou hi;0 
         givenl. 
  n'il shall not soon depart. 
  "I~e who, from zone to zone, 
Guiiles. through the boundless sky thyv 
         certain flight, 
lin the long way that I must tremi 
         alone, 
  Will leld Ily steps aright." 
      THE BOY'S DISSIPATION 
  J. I[. Maddy, of the Erie Railroad, 
was hbrn in Muncie, Indiana. He hillI 
two cousins who lived on a farm 
side the city. 
  "Omie fall,," said Maddy, "t''he ,v, 
had been working very hard and thir 
father tohl theni they might tfik, a 
load of apples to town, sell them a!,1 
keep the money. The boys, on rea, 1 
ilg the town, stood around for a tii o 
und finally sold the apples. Then til y 
wandered in and out of the stores i ,r 
two or three hours trying to ti 
sonething to buy to take back home 
finally they bought half a bushel 
apples."-Philadelphia Sat. Even' 
Post. 
   Mention this paper when writing o 
advertisers. 
4 
June, 1911