Destruction by Man 43 



course. Fires are unnecessary and often avoid- 

 able, but even these are generally the result of 

 accident and are comparatively seldom set with 

 any intention to injure the birds. 



Nor are men to blame for killing such birds as 

 they actually need for food. The early settlers 

 were obliged to hunt in order to live, and water- 

 fowl and what are commonly known as game 

 birds played an important part in saving our 

 ancestors from starvation. In those early days 

 wild ducks and geese, wild turkeys, wild pigeons, 

 grouse, and quail were here in countless numbers, 

 and as the number of people in the country was 

 for a long time comparatively small, the birds 

 they took for food were never missed from the 

 numberless flocks and coveys which dotted the 

 waters and swarmed in the forests. In fact for 

 many years the settlers might have been counted 

 among the friends of the birds, because they 

 also killed off mountain lions, wild cats, wolves, 

 foxes, raccoons, opossums, and other natural 

 enemies that would doubtless have destroyed 

 more birds than were taken by the hunters. 

 But gradually, very gradually at first, the tide 

 changed against the birds. As more and more 

 people thronged to our shores, more and more 

 food was needed to sustain them. Birds were 

 easy to get and cheap to buy and they were 



