Happy Duck Stamp Day

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On this day in 1934 the US adopted the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act, commonly known as the Duck Stamp Act. Hunters are required to buy a stamp before bagging migratory birds like ducks and geese, with the proceeds earmarked for habitat preservation. The stamps themselves are so beautifully done that many non-hunters buy and display them as art. We won't be hunting them, but here are a few quotes on Birds.

I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance than I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn.

- Henry David Thoreau, 1817 - 1862

Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.

- Henry Van Dyke, 1852 - 1933

Be grateful for luck. Pay the thunder no mind - listen to the birds. And don't hate nobody.

- Eubie James Herbert Blake, 1883 - 1983

The eagle suffers little birds to sing,
And is not careful what they mean thereby.

- William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616

Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?

- Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1890 - 1995

Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings.

- Victor Hugo, 1802 - 1885

From Quotes of the Day

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