d love for the wild
creatures that are surrounded by enemies on every side. They should be
taught that animals have feelings and that they want to live. They
should be taught how wrong it is to destroy life uselessly. The nest of
eggs or helpless young left to their fate through the thoughtless
killing of a mother bird is a sight which must arouse the sympathy of
every boy who has been taught what it means.

[Illustration: _Eastman Kodak Company_
The only right way to hunt birds' nests--with a camera.]

The killing of the mothers is the surest way to destroy a species. The
laws in most of our states now regulate hunting during the breeding
season and limit the number of wild animals or birds that may be taken
in a given time. Whenever the numbers of any species become so reduced
that it is in danger of extinction, all hunting of that species should
be prohibited for a number of years.

We should feel sorry for those men who live in a civilized land and get
the benefit of its advantages and yet are worse than savages at heart.
If these men who are so wasteful of wild life could be stripped of their
destructive weapons and sent into the wilds to make their living as
savages do, they would soon learn to be more careful.

The animals prey upon each other because it is their nature to do so and
because their lives depend upon it. Savages hunt because they must have
food. We do not need to hunt, but, because of our higher intelligence,
our hunting methods are far more destructive than are those of either
animals or savages.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE ANIMALS AND BIRDS

Nature has done more for our land than for almost any other. She has
given it vast forests, fertile soil, favorable climate, enormous water
power, many minerals, and a wonderful variety of animal life.

During all the centuries that the Indians lived here before the coming
of white men, wild game furnished them their chief food, but in spite of
this, the amount of game was not decreased. When our forefathers landed
upon this continent, it fairly swarmed with animals and birds. With the
clearing away of the forests and the settling of the prairies men could
not help depriving many wild creatures of both their shelter and their
food, but this was not the chief cause for their rapid decrease in
numbers. Hunters followed them persistently into the wilder hills and
mountains, and many, not needed for food, were killed for th