OALTFOENIA FISH AND GAME. 



77 



tion of noxious ones, maintain tliat tlie 

 slaughter was less discriminating and 

 that the English sparrows did well to 

 comprise half of those killed during the 

 war. According to this view, the major 

 percentage were linnets, white-crowned 

 sparrows, and chipping sparrows. The 

 hunters did not encounter much difHculty 

 in identifying the male English sparrows, 

 but the females are much harder to tell 

 at a little distance from other birds. Is 

 it riot the general experience that the 

 only safe way to deal with this problem 

 is to place the entire campaign in the 

 hands of one who not only knows the 

 identity and relative value of bird species, 

 but who is thoroughly familiar with their 

 habits and appearance in the field as 

 well? This seems to me a vital point, so 

 important in the broader aspects of the 

 whole problem as to justify any extra 

 trouble or expense which in such a cam- 

 paign is at all likely to be entailed. It 

 should always be remembered that the 

 principal reason we have to justify the 

 slaughter of the English sparrow is that 

 he is an enemy of our native birds. In 

 attempting the restoration of the faunal 

 equilibrium, we defeat our own chief end 



if we inadvertently destroy the wheat 

 with tlie chaflj. — Stillman I. Berry. 



THE HUNTING ACCIDENTS OF 1916. 



Pursuant to the custom, begun last 

 year, of recording hunting accidents, we 

 give herewith a list of such accidents for 

 the year 1916. The compilation has been 

 made in the hope that many observing the 

 results of the careless handling of guns, 

 will use more caution in the future, and 

 so lessen accidents of this sort. It should 

 be noted that in spite of the fact that 

 the list is a long one, many hunting 

 accidents occurring last year have gone 

 unrecorded because of the lack of definite 

 information regarding them. Further- 

 more, automobile accidents in which hunt- 

 ers were concerned are omitted. 



A comparison of the report with the 

 one made last year shows a pleasing de- 

 crease in fatal accidents in which a man 

 was taken for game. On the other hand, 

 there is a decided increase in the number 

 of hunters injured or killed through the 

 accidental discharge of a gun. Certainly, 

 the report teaches that : 



A gun must never be pulled out of 

 a boat or under a fence barrel first. 



Fig. 29. Male and female English sparrow. This introduced bird not only destroys 

 growing crops but drives away native beneficial birds. Control campaigns have 

 been carried on in several cities. Courtesy National Geographic Magazine. 



