This beautiful volume has been written for a good purpose. I had thepleasure of reading the proof-sheets of the book while in theYellowstone National Park, where no gun may be lawfully fired at any ofGod's creatures. All animals there are becoming tame, and the greatbears come out of the woods to feed on the garbage of the hotels andcamps, fearless of the tourists, who look on with pleasure and wonderat such a scene."The child is father of the man," and this volume is addressed to theheart and imagination of every child reader. If children are taught tolove and protect the birds they will remember the lesson when they growold. When children learn to prefer to take a "snap-shot" at a birdwith a camera, rather than with a gun, they will protect thesefeathered friends for their beauty, even if they do not regard them fortheir usefulness.Nature has supplied a system of balances if left to itself. Some formsof insect life are so prolific that but for the voracity and industryof the birds the world would become almost uninhabitable.Bird life appeals to the eye for its beauty, to the ear for its music,and to the interest of man for its utility. Shooting-clubs haveforeseen the extermination that awaits many of the finest of the gamebirds, and are taking much pains to enforce the laws enacted for gameprotection. A selfish interest thus is called into activity, and oneclass of birds is receiving protection through the aid of its ownenemies.But the birds of beautiful plumage are now threatened with extinctionby the desire of womankind for personal decoration. Against thisdestruction Audubon societies are organizing a crusade, and Mrs.Patterson's principal purpose in this book is to direct attention tothe wholesale slaughter of the birds of plumage and song. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.