下载掌阅APP，畅读海量书库
立即打开
The late Theodore Roosevelt was a man who practiced what he preached,and when he said that the cause of bird protection was “entitled to the support of every sensible man, woman, and child in the country,” he knew that the statement applied to himself just as much as to anyone else. Colonel Roosevelt was always interested in birds, and when he was President of the United States, with vast responsibilities and endless work, he still found time to collect the material for his book, Birds of the White House Grounds.So it was fitting that one of the foremost bird clubs in the world should be organized in his own home, and that he should become its president.
I shall never forget the night. It was the fourteenth of May, 1915, and I had just delivered an illustrated lecture on “How to Attract Wild Birds” in a large room of the simple dwelling, which with the grounds about it is called“Sagamore Hill.”
My audience was composed chiefly of the Colonel’s and Mrs. Roosevelt’s friends and neighbors. At the close of the lecture there was free discussion of the subject, and many questions were asked and answered. Then, as I always do at the close of this lecture, I suggested that a local bird club be organized. The suggestion was accepted, and the audience voted to organize the club then and there. Colonel Roosevelt was chosen as the first president,and it was named “The Bird Club of Long Island.”
Had the birds known how important a night this was for them, I am sure that they would have sent delegates from all parts of the country to Sagamore Hill to express their gratitude in song.
Colonel Roosevelt at once wrote an appeal which was sent out to hundreds of his “fellow Long-Islanders,” as he called them, asking them to help him forward the objects of the new Bird Club. In speaking of the work to be done. Colonel Roosevelt said:
“The preservation of the birds is of great economic importance to all of us,and especially to the farmers because of the war they make upon the insect foes which are the most dangerous enemies of the farm, garden, and woodland.
“Our aim should be three-fold: first, to put a stop to all molestation of beautiful and useful birds by man or by the domestic creatures which man can control; second, to encourage these birds by making existence easier for them; third, to war against their natural foes.
“As regards the first and most important object, every effort should be made in the home and at school to teach our boys the beauty of wild life and the immense attractiveness that birds give by their presence around our houses and in the woods.
“Entirely apart from their usefulness we should understand that the mere presence of birds, the chance of observing their habits and listening to their singing ought to give us the pleasure that we get from looking at beautiful pictures or listening to good music.”
The president then spoke of the fine work which could be done by the Boy Scouts in protecting birds and pointed out that it should be a matter of honorable obligation among both men and boys, never to molest birds in any way, and to take prompt action against those who do molest them.He made a special plea for the quail, which he said was now so rare that it should never be shot.
He spoke of the domestic cat as an inveterate enemy of those birds which it is most desirable to save, and expressed regret that there was not a license for cats. Finally he told his neighbors how birds might be attracted to the home grounds by means of baths and drinking places in summer, food in winter,and bird houses and shelves during the nesting season.
From that moment the bird club became a power for good. Hundreds of people from all parts of Long Island hastened to join it, and then helped to forward its objects. They represented about fifty chapters or branches of the organization, and each branch began to interest its own town or village in birds and bird protection. They set an example not only by feeding the birds in winter, by giving them water in summer, and by putting up nesting boxes in the spring and autumn, but also by calling neighbors’ meetings to discuss bird problems.
From time to time the club issued leaflets to tell the members what kinds of food to put out for the birds, how to make bird baths and bird houses,and what kinds of trees and shrubs to to plant in order to attract birds to the gardens and farms.
Large areas of field and woodland were set apart as bird sanctuaries, and around them were posted signs forbidding the shooting of birds. Lecturers on bird life were sent to the schools, to interest the pupils in the club, and prizes were offered for the best bird houses and photographs of birds.
Soon, thousands of people who had never thought much about such things before were enjoying the companionship of their feathered neighbors.To give just one example of the pleasure they got, I will tell you about a member who was ill and who had to stay in bed all winter. She kept her windows open day and night, and when her meals were brought to her, her little bird friends would fly in, alight on the bed, and help themselves to whatever they wanted from her tray.
But perhaps the best work of the club was not on Long Island at all. It was done indirectly in scores of towns and villages throughout the country,where the people heard of the interesting things accomplished around Oyster Bay by Colonel Roosevelt and his splendid bird club, and determined to follow his good example by organizing bird clubs of their own. In this way the good work is spreading over the country. I hope that each pupil who reads this story will play his part well in this great movement, by starting a bird club, or by helping to make a success of one which has already been started.
( Ernest Harold Baynes )
Ernest Harold Baynes (1868-1925), an American author and naturalist,lives in Meriden, New Hampshire. He is an authority on the service birds and animals rendered in the World War, because he was sent overseas to the front to make a permanent history of the warwork of animals. Mr. Baynes is a member of the National Association of Audubon Societies and of the American Bison Society. His book Wild Bird Guests was written to interest people in protecting birds. Theodore Roosevelt wrote a preface for it, in which he says, “The Meriden Club has furnished a model for all similar experiments in preserving bird life,and Mr. Baynes writes in advocacy of a cause which by practical achievement he has shown to be entitled to the support of every sensible man, woman, and child in the country.”
inveterate : firmly established by long existenc
sanctuary : a place of refuge for birds
A) Answer the following questions.
1) How did Roosevelt practice what he preached in the cause of bird protection?
2) What organizations in your area look after the protection of birds?
3) What is one of the main enemies of birds?
4) How did Roosevelt make the bird club more popular?
5) Where is perhaps the best work of the club done?
B) Wrong sentences — Each sentence contains an error. Correct them.
1) Roosevelt ran a bird club on Short Island. _______
2) Roosevelt believed in the molestation of birds. _______
3) The club issued magazines telling members such things as what food to give birds. _______
4) There were about 500 branches or chapters of the organization. _______
5) In bird sanctuaries, the shouting of birds was prohibited. _______