84 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
‘‘ Quail, partridge, prairie chicken, wild turkey, snipe, woodcock, plover 
and all kinds of ducks are growing less plentiful.’—FRED WELLS, Battle 
Creek, Mich. 
‘The quail has almost entirely disappeared from this state. ‘The ruffed 
grouse and the prairie hen are scarcely met with anywhere in the southern 
and central parts of this state. They are entirely extinct near Milwaukee.” 
—PROF. H. NEHRLING, Milwaukee. 
“Of birds of prey, one-half remain; of water fowl, one-third; game 
birds, one-tenth.’’—EDMONDE S. CURRIER, Keokuk, Iowa. 
‘Prairie chickens almost exterminated in eastern third of this state. 
Not one-thousandth as many as there were at one time. Wild turkey ex- 
tinct in the state. Water birds—geese, ducks, Wilson’s snipe, plover, etc. 
—about one-twentieth as many as formerly. Woodcock rare ; ruffed grouse 
and wild pigeon extinct.’’—Pror. L. L. DyCHE, Lawrence, Kansas. 
‘‘ The pin-tailed grouse is threatened with extermination. Wild ducks, 
geese and other migratory water fowl have decreased one-half.’’—C. A. 
WATERMAN, Hay Springs, Neb. 
‘‘ Prairie chickens nearly extinct ; quails, one-half ; turkeys, one-twen- 
tieth.”’—L. C. PERRYMAN, Tulsa, Indian Territory. 
Such testimony as the above can be continued indefinitely, 
and for many other states and territories. In view of present 
conditions—a constantly decreasing supply of game birds, a con- 
stantly increasing number of cheap guns and gunners, and a 
seemingly insatiable demand for ‘‘game on the bill of fare’’— 
does any sane person doubt that without some sweeping and radi- 
cal change in the direction of conservation, the next fifteen years 
will witness the practical annihilation of the whole 144 species 
falling under the fatal designation of ‘‘ game birds’? ? 
It is time that game birds of every description should cease to 
be regarded as zecessary food. It is time that all market hunting, 
and the sale of game birds and mammals of every description 
should cease, and forever. ‘The food supply of the inhabitants of 
the United States has not yet reached so low a point that it is 
necessary to slay every edible beast and bird in order to keep the 
American soul and body together. So long as our market stalls 
are piled high with domestic turkeys, ducks and chickens selling 
at fifteen cents a pound, or less, and the finest beef in the world 
continues to be so plentiful and so cheap that there is little profit 
in raising cattle on free grass, the survival of the fittest American 
can be amply secured without the annihilation of the few game 
birds and quadrupeds that still remain. 
