Birds are of inestimable value to mankind. Without their unremitting services our gardens and fields would be laid waste by insect pests. But we owe them a greater debt even than this, for the study of birds tends to develop some of the best attributes and impulses of our natures. Among them we find examples of generosity, unselfish devotion, of the love of mother for offspring, and other estimable qualities. Their industry, patience, and ingenuity excite our admiration; their songs inspire us with a love of music and poetry; their beautiful plumages and graceful manners appeal to our aesthetic sense; their long migrations to distant lands stimulate our imaginations and tempt us to inquire into the causes of these periodic movements; and finally, the endless modifications of form and habits by which they are enabled to live under most diverse conditions of food and climate--on land and at sea--invite the student of nature into inexhaustible fields of pleasurable research. The cause of bird protection is one that appeals to the best side of our natures. Let us yield to the appeal. Let us have a Bird Day--a day set apart from all the other days of the year to tell the children about the birds. But we must not stop here. We should strive continually to develop and intensify the sentiment of bird protection, not alone for the sake of preserving the birds, but also for the sake of replacing as far as possible the barbaric impulses inherent in child nature by the nobler impulses and aspirations that should characterize advanced civilization. Respectfully, J. STERLING MORTON, _Secretary of Agriculture._ Other friends of the birds responded cordially to the request, as will be seen by the following letters:-- WEST PARK, N. Y., April 22, 1894. _Dear Sir_,--In response to yours of the seventeenth, I enclose a few notes about birds to be read upon your "Bird Day"--just an item or two to stimulate the curiosity of the young people. The idea is a good one, and I hope you may succeed in starting a movement that may extend to all the schools of the country. Very truly yours, JOHN BURROUGHS. 628 HANCOCK STREET, BROOKLYN, N. Y., April 25, 1894. MR. C. A. BABCOCK.