mosquitoes that torment us so.
No flying or crawling creature escapes their sharp little eyes. A great
Frenchman says that if it weren't for the birds human beings would
perish from the face of the earth. They are doing all this for us, and
how are we rewarding them? All over America they are hunted and killed.
Five million birds must be caught every year for American women to wear
in their hats and bonnets. Just think of it, girls, Isn't it dreadful?
Five million innocent, hardworking, beautiful birds killed, that
thoughtless girls and women may ornament themselves with their little
dead bodies. One million bobolinks have been killed in one month near
Philadelphia. Seventy song-birds were sent from one Long Island village
to New York milliners.

"In Florida, cruel men shoot the mother birds on their nests while they
are rearing their young, because their plumage is prettiest at that
time, The little ones cry pitifully, and starve to death. Every bird of
the rarer kinds that is killed, such as humming birds, orioles and
kingfishers, means the death of several others--that is, the young that
starve to death, the wounded that fly away to die, and those whose
plumage is so torn that it is not fit to put in a fine lady's bonnet. In
some cases where birds have gay wings, and the hunters do not wish the
rest of the body, they tear off the wings from the living bird, and
throw it away to die.

"I am sorry to tell you such painful things, but I think you ought to
know them. You will soon be men and women. Do what you can to stop this
horrid trade. Our beautiful birds are being taken from us, and the
insect pests are increasing. The State of Massachusetts has lost over
one hundred thousand dollars because it did not protect its birds. The
gypsy moth stripped the trees near Boston, and the State had to pay out
all this money, and even then could not get rid of the moths. The birds
could have done it better than the State, but they were all gone. My
last words to you are, 'Protect the birds.'"

Mrs. Wood went to her seat, and though the boys and girls had listened
very attentively, none of them cheered her. Their faces looked sad, and
they kept very quiet for a few minutes. I saw one or two little girls
wiping their eyes. I think they felt sorry for the birds.

"Has any boy done anything about blinders and check-reins?" asked the
president, after a time.

A brown-faced boy stood up. "I had a picnic last Monday," he said;
"f