THE OOLOGIST 



19 



Domesticating Wild Fowl. 



Many of our readers know that The 

 Editor of THE OOLOGIST has for 

 years been endeavoring to demonstrai-L- 

 that the ordinary breeds of North 

 American Wild fowl may, with proper 

 surroundings and reasonable attention 

 to detail, be domesticated. This in 

 our judgment is the only solution for 

 the wild fowl question. The great in- 

 crease in gunners, the wonderful out- 

 put and imi)rovement in the various 

 machines of death, the e.xtraordinary 

 manufacture of cartridges and all man- 

 ner of improved paraphernalia for the 

 liurpose of luring the birds to their 

 death, will ultimately exterminate all 

 of the wild fowl on this continent un- 

 less something is done. 



From one "blind" within twenty 

 miles of the writer's home, 1200 duclvs 

 were slaughtered in the fall of 1912, 

 all being shot over wooden decoys 

 among which were placed live call 

 ducks. The birds cannot stand this 

 character of persecution long. 



The keeping of nature wild fowl in 

 confinement is one of the most alluring 

 of amusements. The study of tlie 

 birds themselves is productive of 

 many hours of pleasure. Each species 

 has its own individuality, and eacla 

 bird apparently its . own ])eculiarity. 

 Nearly all kinds of North American 

 wild fowl may be successfully kept 

 with proper surroundings, and many 

 of them will breed prolificly. 



The day this is written both varie- 

 ties of North American Swan and 

 eleven varieties of geese included in 

 the North American A. O. U. list, as 

 well as a number of ducks, are run- 

 ning at large on our premises without 

 artificial heat or shelter. 



On yesterday, a radical change in 

 atmos|)heric conditions took i)lace; 

 the wind being very high and to the 

 Northwest, the mercury falling rapid- 

 ly, and near the middle of the fore- 



noon, a very heavy snow squall blew 

 up from the Northwest. The geese on 

 seeing this coming, became very un- 

 easy and noisy; several of them 

 mounted high in the air and after cir- 

 cling a little, returned to the ground 

 and to their mates, refusing to leave 

 the place where they were well fed 

 and protected from attempts on their 

 lives. 



The illustration on the foregoing 

 page shows what an attractive addi- 

 tion to the landscape a small pond 

 with a few of these birds will make. 



It is with pleasure that we note a 

 number of our bird friends are endeav- 

 oring to get into this line of ornithol- 

 ogy. It requires but little water and 

 not very much attention to succeed. 



This coming spring, thousands of 

 birds will be crippled by the gunners 

 as the birds fly Northward. By pro- 

 curing many of these tliat are wing- 

 tipiied and taking them home and car- 

 ing for them, a start may be made in 

 this most alluring line of bird study. 



Sorrow. 



Sadness and grief has entered into 

 the home of our western subscriber, 

 E. J. Dietrich of Canby, Oregon, when 

 January o, l!ti:;, his beloved mother 

 was taken from him, at the age of 70 

 years and two months. 



Mr. Dietrich writes that owing to 

 her long, severe illness, he lias been 

 most reluctantly comiielled to i)Ost- 

 l)one and neglect his ornithological 

 and social correspondence and trans- 

 actions. He begs for the kind indul- 

 gence of those friends who hold claims 

 against him and trusts he will be able 

 to straighten all claims in the very 

 near future. 



.\o greater sorrow can visit any 

 man. We extend our heartfelt sym- 

 pathy. — Editor, 



