456 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



places; their feeding grounds were without limitations. Today, in 

 highly cultivated sections, the majority of our birds are compelled to 

 nest upon the ground or upon low bushes, within easy reach of their 

 many natural enemies, to the great discomfort of the birds. The 

 farmer's cat, his dog, his reaper, his mower and horse-rake, each one 

 get in their deadly work; his cows, his horses and sheep tramp out 

 the nest in the pasture ; forest fires, built by human hands, take their 

 toll, especially Spring fires, that not only destroy the nests of birds, 

 but also the young of the birds and animals, and in addition destroy 

 the trees and vines and shrubs that furnish the food for all wild 

 creatures, when insects are gone. The swamp has been drained, 

 wherein the covey of quail or other birds were wont to take refuge at 

 eventide on a tussock, safe from prowling enemies. The farmer's cat, 

 it is estimated, kills at least sixty song birds every season, more birds 

 than are killed by any five hundred hunters in the State, excepting 

 boys, for true sportsmen never kill song birds. Crows are permitted 

 to hatch and increase everywhere. The farmer never thinks of the 

 crow, except when he is pulling corn, and for destroying birds the 

 crow beats the cat out of sight. Young crows, in the nest, are said 

 to consume daily animal food equal to two or three times their own 

 weight, and the eggs and young of birds are taken by crows whenever 

 found. This disposition of the crow is what drives many birds to 

 seek nesting places near human habitations, and causes the robin to 

 build on your window sill. And the great wonder to me is, not that 

 we have so few birds, but, instead, that we have birds at all. 



In Wyoming last winter, and for several winters past, the utmost 

 effort of the United States Government has been put forth to save the 

 lives of thousands of elk dying from starvation, because settlers had 

 taken their winter feeding grounds for farms. Elk were plentiful 

 there, for no man knows how long, and none starved ; today they must 

 die because their winter feeding grounds have been appropriated to 

 the use of men, just as the homes of our wild creatures of various 

 Kinds have been taken here, and still we wonder why the birds have 

 decreased. 



This much for the birds that are useful, now just a word about 

 certain other birds. 



In my paper read at the time of our last meeting, under the title 

 "Predatory Birds," I attempted to call to the attention of farmers 

 to the fact that all birds as I know them were not raised in nests 

 in the tree-tops, neither were they covered with feathers. Aristotle, 

 in the long ago, in describing man, said he was a biped without feath- 

 ers, indicating to my mind that even in his day there were birds of 

 various kinds and that old philosopher had been up against some 

 of them. In my last paper, I attempted to call attention to the fact 

 that in my opinion a matter of very grave importance was the man- 

 ner and the channel through which the products of his farm reached 

 the market. I especially called attention to the method of testing 

 milk in creameries for butter-fats, and the unfair manner in which 

 the skim milk was returned to the one who produced the milk. Since 

 our last meeting, I have examined into this matter to a further ex- 

 tent, and believe that nothing that can be done by the dairyman on 

 his farm will overcome the leakage and loss at the creamery, I am 

 satisfied that a real bird of prey, in so far as the dairy is concerned, 



