2 1 o Ciiuiiuiati Society of Natural IJistory. 



the insectivorous birds and collect them? Everything favors it. 

 A debased public sentiment, making a demand for birds' heads 

 and the like, a rcalit)-, and mcMe than that, a vast pecuniary in- 

 ducement, a set of feather milliners who propose to serve the pub- 

 lic demand, and an army of shooters whose living is made out of 

 the business. 



We can rest assured that unless the pernicious habit of wear- 

 ing birds' heads is checked by a healthy pubh'c sentiment, the next 

 i^"^ years will see the shore birds and the water birds largely de- 

 stroyed and great inroads made upon our song and insectivorous 

 birds. And the people will awake some morning to find our song- 

 birds gone. 



I quote again : 



"One New York taxidermist had 30,000 skins of crows, crow- 

 blackbirds, red-winged blackbirds, and snow buntings." 



Ahl here we have it, drifting from the killing of water birds 

 into the killing of land birds. Even the Doctor admits that the 

 red-winged blackbird has a desirable song — a clear whistle, and 

 admits that the snow bunting is an insectivorous bird. Yes, drift- 

 ing into killing our insectivorous birds and song birds. An ounce 

 of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If when thus warned 

 we do not look ahead and prevent the evil, we deserve to lose 

 our birds. 



Thus fxr we have taken figures which the Doctor admits to be 

 correct, and have argued ii])on these. Now we propose to 

 dispute certain of his figures and a good many of his |)ro])i)si- 

 tions. 



First, he says, " We may estimate that the 15,000,000 scpiare 

 miles comprised in North and South America and the West India 

 Islands will average at least 200 birds to the s<piare mile,"' and 

 again he says, "According to this estimate then we would have a 

 bird population in the Americas of 3,000,000,000." In answer to 

 this, I may say that I think that 200 birds to the s<juare mile is 

 much too large an estimate. Many of the sjiecies of birds which 

 winter in the Southern States are in the Northern States in the 

 summer. In the northern part of the United States but few birds 

 are found in winter. 



In the next place, in parts of North America but few birds are 

 present. For example, in the vast, high and widely extended 

 slopes of the Rocky Mountains, where the flora is scarce, so, also, 



