16 REPOET OF ^E\V JPJRSBY STATE MUSEUM. 



of colonies of each are now known on our coasts. Details of this 

 extermination will be found under these several species. 



(h) Slaughter for sport. — The shooting of Ducks, Geese, Shore- 

 birds, Quail and Grouse has always been regarded as legitimate sport. 

 Unfortunately with the increase of population numbers of gunners 

 take the field who are utterly lacking in the appreciation of true 

 sport. First come the Italians who, educated for generations in the 

 belief that everything that flies is legitimate game, shoot down War- 

 blers, Sparrows and Chickadees with as much satisfaction as a true 

 sportsman would kill a Pheasant. But little better are the xlmerican 

 citizens boasting of their superiority but who do not hesitate to shoot 

 out of season or to slaugliter Clapper Eails on the fall tides when the 

 birds cannot escape, just to see how many they can kill. This sort of 

 thing is bound to tell and is now telling upon the numbers of our wild 

 birds. 



We must recognize two facts in dealing with game legislation^first, 

 that the number of gunners is vastly increased; second, that the num- 

 ber of many game birds is vastly decreased. This is due to the fact 

 that the breeding grounds of many of the Ducks in Iowa and the 

 Dakotas have been entirely drained and cultivated and the birds de- 

 prived of a place to nest, and now, in opening up the Saskatchewan 

 country to railroads and settlers, the same thing is being done there. 

 All the Ducks that bred in these areas are decreasing rapidly, and only 

 those that breed in the far north, like Brant, etc., are holding their 

 own. Among the shore birds the same thing is seen, but here it is 

 the unlimited shooting all along the line of migration that is doing 

 the damage. The Golden Plover and Eskimo Curlew, for instance, 

 breed in the far north and winter in the Argentine Eepublic. They 

 are shot by the South American sportsmen all winter and are targets 

 for the gunners of North America during )_)oth the spring and autumn 

 flights. 



The changed conditions and increase in gunners demand radical 

 legislation, as the birds simply cannot exist for many years under 

 present conditions. Spring shooting must stop, and shooting must 

 be everywhere restricted to those who are willing to shoot in moder- 

 ation for their own use. The marketing of wild game must eventually 

 stop or the supply will be exhausted. 



Opposition to legislation toward these ends is simply due to selfish- 

 ness on the part of those who refuse to look to the future and are only 

 interested in their personal gain. 



