No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 456 



pile, and have gone uj* in smoke ilirougli his chimney. Through the 

 practice of tiee .snigerv, tlie trees in the orchard or on the lawn have 

 all had tlie decayed places cut away, and the cavities filled with ce- 

 ment, so that the birds before named liave no place into which they 

 can retreat in time of need. Tliey, therefore, freeze and die, and the 

 farmer, if he ])ays any attention at all to the subject, wonders what 

 has become of the bii-ds, and 1 wonder how many farmers in the State 

 have attempted to put u[) biidhouses to take the places of the shelters 

 destroyed. I wonder mow many farmers in the State have hung out 

 suet, or fresh meat, or other food for the winter birds in the time of 

 necessity. How many of your farmer friends, unless they were also 

 sportsmen, have ever traveled through storm and sleet to find and 

 feed a covey of starving quail, as many sportsmen have done, or who 

 have ever put up good hard-earned dollars as many sportsmen have 

 done for years, to buy quail in other states and place them in this 

 State. 



An undoubted friend of our birds. Dr. William T. Hornaday, one 

 of the great naturalists of the world, and Director of the New York 

 Zoological Park, in writing upon this subject, among other things, 

 says: *'Show me one farmer, or forester, who goes out of his way 

 and labors and spends money to protect his feathered friends and I 

 will show you ninety-nine who never lift one finger or spend one 

 penny a year in such work." And again, "If there was anything I 

 could say that would penetrate the farmer's armor of indifference, and 

 sting him into activity on this subject, I would quickly insert the 

 stinger, even at my own cost and loss." And, again, "Did you ever 

 know a real sure-enough farmer to subscribe to a fund for game 

 protection or to spend time and money in attending legislative hear- 

 ings in behalf of bird protection and increase? I never did; I mean 

 the real farmers who depend upon their crops for their bread and 

 butter." 



Dr. Hornaday was born and raised on a farm in Iowa. He knows 

 something about the disposition of farmers; he knows that because 

 of their many and varied duties the majority of farmers have no time 

 to even think of the birds ; his whole life has been spent in a battle 

 for the birds. He has come before the legislative bodies of many 

 states in the interest of birds, and it would not do for him to tell 

 anything but the truth about farmers. He knows there is not one 

 farmer in fifty who can tell the names of half the birds around him, 

 or who knows of the special work each species of birds is doing for 

 him. Dr. Hornaday would hardly attempt to "slur" himself or his 

 people, or to "joke" regarding one of the most serious questions he 

 has been called to consider in his lifetime, and the sooner the farmer 

 realizes his true position the better it will be for him, and for the 

 birds. Don't, I beg of you, get cross at me because I dare to tell 

 you the truth regarding this matter. 



Someone will assert that birds were more plentiful years ago, when 

 no one even thought of the birds, than they are at this time. This is 

 no doubt true, but if that person will investigate they will find that 

 in the days when birds and game and predatory creatures were plenti- 

 ful, men were scarce, and had not taken the homes of these wild crea- 

 tures as they have today. In those days the wild creatures had 

 plenty of land on which to roam, and untold numbers of hiding 



