鸟类是我们最常见到的美丽动物,要寻找一只食肉猛兽,你需要翻山越岭,但在自己家的院子里就能很轻松地发现一只轻灵的鸟儿。我们的祖先抬起自己的头,首先就看到了树上的鸟儿,他们无比羡慕地观察着这些能自由飞行的动物,在石壁上用寥寥数笔勾画出它们振翅高飞的英姿。几千年里,鸟类一直生活在我们的周围,直到有一天,工业革命打破了我们田园牧歌一般的生活空间,工厂、铁路、城市和农业机械化将我们生活的家园隔绝起来,我们突然发现居住的空间不再被称做大自然,并第一次认识到荒野和自由自在的动物居然也需要保护。英国乡村牧师吉尔伯特·怀特成为观鸟活动的先驱。同之前的那些鸟类爱好者们不同,他不会将鸟儿囚禁在笼子里,不会用弓箭或火枪将它们从树梢射落,也没有收集羽毛和标本的癖好。他只是来到大自然中,观察、聆听、欣赏、记录,他将观鸟看成一种爱好,一种乐趣,将自然看成一个得到放松和享受的空间,而不仅仅是能获益的资源。 Birds are the most beautiful creatures we often see. Looking for a carnivore, you need to cross the mountains, but a flirty bird can easily be found in the yard of your own home. Our ancestors raised their heads and first saw the birds in the trees. They watched with great admiration the free-flying animals and sketched their wings with a handful of pens on the rock walls. Birds have lived around us for thousands of years until one day, the Industrial Revolution broke the general living space of our idyllic pastures, factories, railroads, cities and agricultural mechanization cut off our homeland of life. We suddenly found that living Space is no longer called nature, and for the first time realized that wilderness and free-range animals actually need protection. Gilbert White, a British rural pastor, became a pioneer in birdwatching. Unlike previous bird lovers, he does not imprison birds in cages, neither shoot them from the treetops with bows or guns, nor does he have the habit of collecting feathers and specimens. He just came to nature, observed, listened, appreciated and recorded. He regarded bird watching as a kind of hobby and a pleasure that naturally regarded as a space for relaxation and enjoyment, not just as a source of benefits .