BIRD MURDER.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2379, 21 August 1886, Page 2

BIRD MURDER.

Theuseloss slaughter, of . hunflteds o thousanda of the most of bird* for tho purpose of affording adorn, ments tho dresses of women has recently attracted the attontiou of naturalists in different parts of the. world.

The American OrnifchologistaftJriion has reoently appointed a committeo on bird protection, and the foromost Amorlcan naturalists have appeal to the women of their own country in behalfof the birdß that are at present being desroyed, by wholesale, for the purpose of 'decoration.

Mr R. Bowdler Sliuvpe, of the British museum, one of the most eminent of living ornithologists, has written'"a long article in our scientific contemporary Nature, advocating the causo of the birds. All those who are interested in the subjeot aHd have paid any. attention' to it, are agreed that the. extinction of many Bpo.cies of great beauty is imminent if tho present rage for bird skins continues. Even now the swamps and and marshes of Florida aro depopulated of their egrets and horons, and' at Cape Cod, whore 40,000 or more skins of fcernsjfd pulls were formerly obtained each yfff,- only a few pairs remain. ' Thirty: thousand ruby humming-bird skins cannot be sold in s single afternoon, as is riot unfrequently the case, without an almost' incredible destruction of these' beautiful creatures. Nor is it the brightly plutnaged birds alono that are killed, for, such ia tho demand for plumes of, all 1 kindß, Aii our common species are being tho feathers being afterwards dyed Btfas to assume ornamontal colours. It is not merely a sentimental grievance thafeiß uttered by tho bird defenders—although it would b# greatly to bo regretted if our bright pluaged birds were destroyed but one whioh affects tho welftp of the nations at large: a very considerable proportion of tho birds killed are essentially beneficial to man, and should; from mere economical considerations be-protected Thus the rook, although in hard- seasons it destroys edible crops, is essentially an inserting bird, and doos air immense benefit by eating wire' worms, grubs and other destructive forms. It is true that it has been convioted of pulling up tufti of grass, and, so mjurinp tho pasture, but careful examination . has jbown that they wero already dea»ond tho pulling them out of ® Rroun( i was but to get at tho grub that caused their destruction. Doubtless sotne birds are injurious; if one fact regarding their Influence haa been more definitely ascertained than another, itis thattheubiquitous and impudent sparrow is a pernicious bird in gardens and cornfields In a Bomewhat silly, though wellmeaning tract, issued by the Selborne Society, wh'ch has boen founded for the preservation of birds, it is Btated by tho writer, T. Wood, that the sparrow is & specially ÜBeful bird, living c hi o fl y on grubs, of which it .kills 50,000. in tho course of a year. It is well known to ornithologists who have investigated tho subject that the sparrow never eats tho inßects it captures, but uses them for tho foods of its callow young, living itaelf ontirely on grain and seeds, devouring our peas, and doing an incredible amount of mischief in our corn fields. Tho sparrow fa, in fact, amongst birds, what tho rat is amongst quadrupeds, a nuisance, which has followed man over most of the civilised globe, everywhere preying upon his crops and garden produce. But. tho silly advocacy of one injurious species should not draw away our attention from tho fact that the wholesale birffiurder complained of by Mr Sharp awfoEher eminent naturalists is greatly to be deplored, and we should recognise the fact that it can only be,put a stop'to by the influence of wohien.' Aa Mr Sharps says: "No legislation will avail uuleta. tho women of Afnorica and Europe can be made to understand that they are absolutely responsible for the wholesale dtairuction of birds which is now going 0n,15 the great benefit of the plume trade and the milliners, but to the everlasting detriment of the world on which we live." , It is. an axiom m political economy that the demand, creates the supply. As long aa women ask for feathers and birds, so long will t,iey be destroyed, for tho collector would willingly kill • the last of its race if ho could get sixponce by selling the skin, Iri'social morality we regard the tempter and receiver as worse than the thief.' Ju our criminal courts of justice he i 8 always, when convicted, punished more severely than the culprit, whoa& ill-gotten goods ho buys. It .is useless for a lady purchasing the corpse of a bud of paradise to endeavor to ease he* conscience, by,saying, " 1 did not kill it, and if 4'. did, not buy it\someone else ( wouldr It. was slain witljp thousand ' others to gratify her desire to wear dead : birds, aria she is more guilty than tho ; man who shot it, for he killed it to obtain' as übsisteflee, inil shejnßtivated the kill*. ing from iher© caprice.'