274 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



acus macrotis), black-tailed deer (Cariacus columbianus) , prong-horned 

 antelope (Antilocarpa americana), Montana goat (Ovis montana) and 

 the mountain goat (Hoploceras montana). Bears in general are greatly 

 on the decrease, and especially the black bear (Ursus americanus) and 

 the California grizzly bear (Ursus horribilis liorriceus). The carni- 

 vores are represented by the puma or mountain lion (Felis concolor), 

 jaguar (Felis onca), red lynx (Lynx rufus), otter (Lutra canadensis) . 

 The rodents, or gnawing animals, on the whole seem to be on the 

 increase, but the most valuable member of the order to man, the beaver, 

 (Castor canadensis) is fast nearing extinction. 



Concerning the bears Morse's "Universal Geography" for 1812, 

 states that eight hundred thousand hides were shipped out of the 

 United States every year. If there is such a thing as a bear industry in 

 this country now it is of exceedingly small importance. In 1784, from 

 one city alone, Charleston, S. C, six hundred thousand deer hides were 

 shipped; in 1812 the price paid for a buck was forty cents; in 1878 

 venison cost three and one fourth cents per pound; in 1908 it took 

 forty cents to buy a pound of venison, just exactly what a whole buck 

 cost in 1812. Evidently there are not as many deer as there used to be. 

 It is natural, of course, that the wild animals of a country should 

 decrease as the population increases, since an increase in population 

 means that new land must be cleared, and the wild animals living in 

 the region of increase, killed off. In many countries, where the popula- 

 tion per square mile is so much greater than it is here, there would be 

 some excuse ; but not in America where miles of prairie and mountain 

 are uninhabited. There is not a single region in this country where 

 the majority of species of mammals is not on the decrease. 



Bird life, on the whole, has decreased a great deal more than animal 

 life; there are a few regions, though, where birds are increasing in 

 numbers. According to reports received from thirty-six states and 

 territories, Dr. Hornaday is of the opinion that in the last fifteen or 

 twenty years the bird life in the United States has been decreased by 46 

 per cent. The greatest amount of damage seems to have been done in 

 Florida, where the decrease is 77 per cent. In Indian Territory, the 

 region constituting the eastern portion of what is now the state of 

 Oklahoma, the loss is 75 per cent. From Connecticut a loss of 75 per 

 cent, is also reported. The states having the smallest losses are: 

 Nebraska 10 per cent., Michigan 23 per cent., Colorado 28 per cent, 

 and Massachusetts 27 per cent. In three states, North Carolina, Cali- 

 fornia and Oregon, the balance of bird life has been maintained ; that is, 

 the losses in one form of bird life have been made up by increases in 

 other forms. In North Carolina, along the coast region, bird life has 

 suffered great losses, but in the thickly wooded mountainous regions 

 of the western part of the state the birds have greatly increased in 



