SECOND ANNUAL REPORT. 125 
New Whatcom, John M. 
Oregon :— 
Edson, General increase in bird life. Mr. 
Edson’s very interesting report will be found 
printed in full on page 97. 
Salem, Geo. D. Peck, ‘* Have been in Oregon 5 years. Small 
West Fork, Douglas Co., 
birds seem to be increasing here. I think there 
are 1 more than whenI came. Ido not think 
our native game birds are decreasing very fast. 
Sportsmen pay more attention to the Mongolian 
pheasant, which gives the native birds a chance 
to increase. Among birds, the swan will be the 
first to become extinct; among mammals, the 
elk and beaver. The bounty paid on small 
rodents hardly serves to check their increase.’’ 2. 
William Archer, ‘‘ Birds are as plentiful here as 
they ever were. They are not hunted to any 
extent. All the large game of this locality is de- 
creasing, such as elk, deer and goats. Mountain 
sheep are nearly extinct.’’ 
Caswell, E. L. Howe, ‘“Excepting Mongolian pheasants, 
California :— 
birds are decreasing. ‘There are only 1% as many 
ducks and geese, and % as many native grouse 
and pheasants. Cause: pot-gunners, and men 
who hunt all the time, out of season. The beaver 
has nearly disappeared, and deer and elk are 
decreasing.”’ 
Oakland, Walter E. Bryant, ‘With exception of a few species, 
birds are decreasing. Causes: too many cheap 
guns and gunners; persistent annual destruction 
of nests, eggs and nesting sites, and also the sys- 
tematic slaughter carried on by at least one 
pseudo-ornithologist.’? 10, 5, 6, 16. 
Cleremont, Prof. J. F. Illingworth, ‘‘ No decrease has been noticed in 
the smaller birds. The game birds, however, 
are decreasing very fast. The California par- 
tridge and the mountain partridge, are only 4% 
as abundant as 15 years ago. The mourning 
dove is also growing very scarce, and the Cali- 
fornia vulture is almost extinct—by poison and 
other means. ‘The western meadow lark is get- 
ting scarce, because it ts shot as a game bird.” 
io: 
Santa Clara, Chester Barlow, “‘T do not think that bird life in any 
line is decreasing in the Santa Clara valley. Dur- 
ing 10 years’ collecting, I have not noted any 
material decrease, and the conditions conducive to 
bird life have remained favorable. Raptores, 
quail, larks and song birds are abundant, and with 
many of the small species, I believe they increase 
annually. Few species are molested to any 
extent. We have no ‘‘ plume-hunters,’’ few pot- 
hunters, and it is a satisfaction to know that the 
majority of the farmers appreciate the services of 
the most of our birds, and do not shoot them 
often for other than food purposes.”’ 
