A Few Notes on the Life-Hisiory, Habits, 

 and Economic Value of Doves. 



Bv Wm. II. Gates. 



The forces of nature, as has been aptly said, are swung in 

 a balance. The balance is indeed delicate, and is quickly 

 turned whenever an advantage, no matter how slight, is weighed 

 against a no-advantage, or disadvantage. Yet it is the turning 

 and the very gradual readjustment to an equilibrium which 

 marks the epochs in the life histories of all animals. Civilized 

 man, in order to satisfy his own wanton desire, has deliber- 

 ately destroyed the swing of the balance, time and again, and 

 left his progeny to suffer the results till readjustments could 

 take place. "We care only for ourselves and our children," 

 has been the unconscious motto of generations. We of the pres- 

 ent generation condemn our ancestors for the reckless wasteful- 

 ness of the resources of nature, which to us are a treasure ; 

 while, unthinkingly, we may be guilty of the same offense. 

 The extinction of plants and animals may, in some cases, be 

 laid to an ignorant assumption that man cannot possibly destroy 

 the enormous numbers that are produced annually. The fish- 

 erman, as he sails the vast expanse of water, cannot realize 

 that, with favorite fish swimming everywhere, the hand of man 

 can possibly reach out and take up practically every one. Not 

 till too late does he see that they are gone, and he must turn 

 elsewhere to provide himself with bread. 



Where are the millions of bison that roamed the American 

 prairies? Eeduced to a few small herds, and how long would 

 they last, if they were not most stringently guarded and pro- 

 tected? Other cases of lawless extinction are abundant. What 

 the market demands, man is prone to supply through hope of 

 pecuniary gain. The purpose of the demand, whether for food, 

 pleasure or comfort, matters not, so long as the price is forth- 

 coming. Fabulous prices have been offered by milliners for 



