Page:Bird-lore Vol 08.djvu/244

 Italian Bird Life as it Impresses an American To-day By FRANCIS H. HERRICK, Author of the "Home Life of Wild Birds" With photographs by the author " ~ /FADE to be taken and destroyed" expresses the general attitude of I / I Italians toward the wild life of their country, and this ancient verdict upon birds was, without doubt, shared by many of the Mediterranean peoples. The Italians do not feel those sentiments of friendship and affection for the song-birds of the country, so common in England and Germany, as well as in most parts of America. Twice in the year, in late fall and early spring, Italian shop-keepers fill their windows with "things for hunters," and the great army of migratory birds begins to pay the penalty of entering a hostile country. Throughout the length and breadth of the Peninsula, song- and game-birds, as well as birds of prey, are snared, netted and shot, with no discrimination as to size or kind, to be sent, with few exceptions, to the grill-houses of Naples and Rome, or to market in any of the larger Italian towns. Strings of birds are hawked about the streets and hung in the windows of shops, — especially in the small markets, and in the Rosticerie, or grill- houses, — as was once a common custom in our southern cities from Balti- more to New Orleans, and probably has not wholly ceased in spite of the efforts made to suppress it. The dead birds are displayed on marble slabs or wooden tables, all neatly arranged in little piles on green leaves, and often plucked and ready for the spit. In the markets of Italy are to be found, almost without exception, all the common birds of Europe. Indeed, the materials for the large and fine collection of stuffed birds in the Museum of the University of Rome have been almost wholly obtained from Roman markets, during the past fifty or seventy-five years. Larger birds, like the Snipe {Gallinago caelestis), are sold for one lira (twenty cents), while the smallest of the Warblers, and Finches, which can be strung like beads on a necklace, bring but a few soldi (one soldo or five centessimi, equaling one cent of American money). At the rear of these Rosticerie a long, cylindrical grill is commonly seen in operation, roasting the spitted birds, poultry and meats for customers. The Roman grill is an ingenious contrivance, carrying from one to six or more spits, or long iron rods, which are made to revolve slowly over a char- coal fire by means of clockwork. The boy or man in attendance, who takes the place of the old-time turnspit dog, has little to do but remove the roasting titbits, transfix still other morsels of bird-flesh, interlarding them with shavings of pork, bacon or pig's liver, and replace the spits over the fire. Moreover, every well-equipped Roman household possesses its own grill, for they are made in many sizes, to operate which is only necessary to. (196)