225 

 A DUTY. 



By William Dutcher, President National Association of 

 Audubon Societies. Office, 141 Broadway, New York. 



And Let Fold Multiply on the Earth. 



Scarcely more than a generation ago the buffalo ranged the 

 Western plains in countless herds, their numbers so great that no 

 written estimate can be considered an exaggeration. Those who 

 were fortunate enough to see one of these great hosts surging 

 over the prairies little thought that in a few short years the 

 buffalo would simply be a part of history. This noble beast was 

 exterminated by man with a butchery so ignoble that it is sicken- 

 ing to dwell upon. The few dollars received for the hide was 

 the incentive for this national disgrace. Almost at the same hour 

 that the buffalo were vanishing, another of the wonders of this 

 continent was also being ruthlessly and recklessly destroyed. 

 Early wi iters tell of flocks of wild pigeons so large that the 

 account of their numbers verges on the fabulous. Where are these 

 countless winged hosts today ? All gone. Why ? Simply that a 

 limited number of men without thought for the future might 

 gather a few dollars by saciificing millions upon millions of harm- 

 less and beautiful forms. 



These two great assets of the people, of use and beauty, were 

 improvidentlv wasted, because no public-spirited persons or asso- 

 ciation had the foresight or interest to protect them from the 

 small band of selfish men who were the destroyers. The passing 

 of the buffalo and wild pigeons is a forceful commentary on the 

 indifference of the people of those days. Are the people of this 

 generation showmg any greater degree of interest in the wild life 

 of the present day, nmch of which is rapily decreasing in num- 

 bers? Few people realize how near the gulls and terns of our 

 coasts came to extinction during the last decade, when fashion 

 decreed that the snow-white plumage of those beautiful denizens 

 of the beaches was necessary for millinery ornaments. 



A simple proposition, in. fact a duty, is now before the Ameri- 

 can people: Shall ihe sea-birds be preserved for future genera- 

 tions ? Unfortunately, this class of birds gather in colonies during 

 the breeding season, and are thus in greater danger than the 

 wild bird that breeds singly. Plume-hunters can still kill them 

 as in the past, when large colonies on our sea-board were destroyed 



