Birds are the most beautiful of creatures. Their plumage is often brilliant and always pleasing. Their motions are so graceful it is a delight to watch them. Their voices are so sweet that they charm every one who loves the fields and woods.
It is very interesting to study the habits of birds. They make journeys thousands of miles in length and return to the same home each year. They build the most wonderful homes and take the best of care of their young.
If we would have these beautiful and interesting creatures live near us we must show them that we mean them no harm. Then they will come about our homes, cheering us with their glad songs, and amusing us with their intelligence.
It is sad to think that birds have learned to fear man because he has killed and trapped them, or robbed their nests of eggs or young. This is not a very good way to treat a friend, is it?
Travelers tell us that when they have visited islands where men did not live, the birds were so tame that they perched upon their shoulders and could be easily caught.
Birds soon find out when man is their enemy, and then become wild and shy; but they are always willing to become our friends again. If we can make them understand that when near us they are safe, they will show their faith in our good-will.
The wild eider-duck makes her nest and lays her eggs in the huts of the Icelanders because she knows that she will not be harmed. In nesting time the birds may be seen in the village streets. They are so tame that one might think they were domestic ducks.
In Europe the storks build upon the house-tops. The peasant welcomes them as friends when each spring they return to their home. He is glad to have them near him, and he places an old cart-wheel on top of his house as a foundation for their nest of sticks.
Near some of the steamboat landings in Florida no shouting is allowed. The wild ducks and coots quickly learn to know where they are safe, and in these places they are very tame, so that one can walk quite near them. But when they are outside the spot in which they are protected they are as shy as the wildest ducks.
Throughout the South it is against the law to kill the buzzards or vultures. These birds are very useful. They are public scavengers, devouring many things which would cause disease. The birds know that they have no one to fear and they hop about the streets as tame as chickens.