Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 October 1886 — Protection of Birds. [ARTICLE]

Protection of Birds.

One of the chief obstacles to the preservation of birds is.the fashionable craze among women for these feathered songsters as head ornaments. This wicked fashion causes the destruction of millions of birds yearly*, and the supply is fast running out. This, however, will make no difference to fashionable ladies 1 , who will perhaps be all the more anxious to obtain bird ornaments when scarcity enhances their price. The threatened destruction of little birds, which are generally friends of rn'an, as’they are destroyers of his insect enemies, is a matter of serious import to the farmer and gardener, and in fact, to the entire country. It is suggested by a lawyer that when humanity and reason fail to influence silly women,a wholesome fear of the law may prove effective. — Most States have game laws which strictly prohibit, not only killing of small birds, but impose penalties of tine and imprisonment on any person having them in possession. Ladies wearing four to six birds on their hats render themselves liable to as many years’ service in the State prison, though this penalty may be modified at the discretion of the Judge. Each bird worn constitutes a distinct offence. The agricultural, horticultural, and religious press has piled various arguments against this barbarous fashion, but to no avail, and it is time that more effective measures be taken. As an old man said to the rude boy lie found in his apple tree, “If neither words nor tufts of grass will bring thee down, I must even try what virtue there is in stones.”