Papers on the Destruction of Native Birds. 195 



by man and destroyed by the dogs and hogs which the Dutch had 

 introduced on the island in 1644. , 



The CapercaiU became extinct in Scotland, but has been re- 

 introduced and an effort is being made to protect and increase 

 them. 



The great Auk {AIca ii/i/>ciiiiis), the celebrated " wingless 

 bird," as it was called, was the next. A bird famous because of 

 its tragic fate. It bred numerously on Newfoundland and the 

 Funk Island during the last century. In 1844 the last survivors of 

 the last colony in Iceland were killed. Now its skin and bones 

 are regarded as the most precious treasures of the museums. Mr. 

 Robert L. Stuart bought one for $625 and presented it to the 

 museum in New York. These birds were unable to fly, hence the 

 destroyers made short work of them. 



If we refer to the animals, man's reputation as an exterminator 

 will not suffer either, for one of the most familiar instances is the 

 American Bison, that ranged the great plains of the West for un- 

 told ages, hunted by the Indians, who used its flesh for food and 

 its skin, for shelter, witTiout any great dimunition in its numbers. 

 The white man came upon the scene and slaughter was the order 

 of the day. The grand but haimless animal is gone; its snow- 

 white bones tell the story ; a disgrace to American civilization. 

 I now propose to show how man is decimating certain species of 

 birds and has practically exterminated them over given areas. 

 The most startling case is that of the wild pigeon, mentioned be- 

 fore by one of your committee. Dr. Langdon says this bird's de- 

 struction is due to the clearing the country of mast bearing trees 

 rather than destruction by man. Undoubtedly man destroyed the 

 trees, but this is not the principal cause, as only a portion of the 

 mast bearing trees are destroyed, and any failure of mast simply 

 caused the pigeons to mov.e to a more favored locality. A flight of 

 a few hundred of miles is nothing to such a bird. The grain that 

 grows in the fields cleared of mast bearing trees, compensates for 

 the mast destroyed. In the Southern States the bird fed largely on 

 rice. More rice grows in the Carolinas to-day than in the time of 

 the wild pigeon. Along the Nipegon River, that comes down 

 into Lake Superior from the North, the pigeons formerly came to 

 feed on the berries that grow there. The berries grow there just 

 as abundantly now, but the pigeons do not come to feed on them. 

 In regard to the almost incredible numbers of the pigeon, it is in- 

 teresting to trace their gradual diminution from the time of Wilson 



