114 Mr. J. Bucldand 077 



due to the inroads of in?ects and rodents. Or, to put this 

 clearer, the damage done by these pests in the pa^t year 

 amounted to over ten dollars per head tor every person in 

 the United States. This loss, it is pointed out by the 

 Government experts, is due largely to the lack of a sufficient 

 number of insect and rodent-eating birds to keep the enemies 

 of the crops in check. This means, letting our thoughts 

 range beyond the United States, that for every bird killed 

 that can be classed as beneficial, man must pay in increased 

 costs of food and clothing. 



There is therefore — now that Great Brilain has harnessed 

 Old Nile — a plain economic reason for revolt against the 

 present-day practice of catching Egy})tian Quail and sliij'])ing 

 them by hundreds of thousands to Europe and to America. 



The Bird as a Scavenger. 



The fishing population of these islands has declared war on 

 the Gulls, and is demanding the withdrawal of certain species 

 from the list of protected birds on account of the damage 

 they are alleged to do to the fishing industry. People who 

 believe fishermen's tales are apt to be duped and led into 

 repeated errors. The Gull is a surface feeder. It may 

 occasionally levy toll on useful fish when they are indiscreet 

 enough to come to the surface of the water, but to say that 

 they do any appreciable injury to the fishing business is 

 absurd. 



On the other hand, the presence of the Gull is essential to 

 man's health. While the bird fulfils many useful minor 

 offices — such as destroying larva' in land along the seaboard, 

 and in eating enemies of fish that are exposed during low 

 tide — its chief function in the economy of nature is that of 

 scavenger of tlie harl)ours and of the littoral, just as Vultuies 

 are the scavengers of the mainland. I do not know if any 

 of you have been in the East or in ]\Iexico. If you have you 

 will know that "Vultures are protected both by law and jiulilic 

 sentiment because of their sanitary services. I'ut to return 

 to the Gull. The wholesale destruction of the birds for their 



