43 



species can be given than the case of Ectopistes migratorius, 

 the Passenger Pigeon of America. To reahse the vast hordes in 

 which this bird was found is quite beyond the bounds of human 

 imagination. Their movements were not due to the famiUar 

 impulse of seasonal migration, but seemed to be governed solely 

 by abundance of food. A nesting colony in Michigan in 1877 

 was twenty- eight miles long and three or four miles wide in 

 a thickly wooded district ; yet every tree had a nest, and many 

 trees were covered ^\'ith them. But the birds were attacked 

 wholesale. In one year, 1881, no less than five hundred men 

 were engaged in netting these pigeons in Michigan, and they are 

 said to have captured 20,000 birds apiece during the year. A 

 few years ago we heard of the countless millions in which this 

 species existed ; now we hear of the likelihood of its absolute 

 extermination !* 



According to Mr. Palmert : "In some sections of the south, 

 particularly in l^ew Orleans, all kinds of small birds, even 

 Thrushes, are considered legitimate game, and are offered for 

 sale in the markets." He also quotes Professor H. Nehrling, 

 who says : " One main cause of the fearful decrease of our small 

 migratory birds must be looked for in our Southern States. 

 There millions of all kinds of birds are killed to satisfy the palate 

 of the gourmand." The species which suffers most is the well- 

 known Thrush commonly called the American "Robin" 

 {T Urdus migratorius), which it is legal to kill in North Carolina 

 from the 1st November to the middle of March, and which is 

 slaughtered in large quantities just before its northward 

 migration begins. ' With open seasons in winter in Alabama, 

 Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee the smaller birds receive 

 but little protection during their sojourn in the South." { 



Wlien we contemplate the number of noxious insects which 

 may be consumed by a bird in a single hour and the rate at which 

 most insects can increase in numbers ; and when we further con- 

 sider the rate at which most birds can under suitable circum- 

 stances increase, it becomes possible to appreciate how terribly 

 the balance of Nature must be upset by the wholesale slaughter 

 of birds during their migratory wanderings. 



COMPARATIVE ECONOMIC VALUE ATTACHED TO 



SPECIES. 



As far as legislation in Europe has gone it has proceeded but 

 little on aesthetic grounds. Virtually all the birds protected 

 are those deemed useful to agriculture and those deemed useful 



* See W. Brewster, " The Auk," October, 1889. f T. S. Palmer, op. cit., 

 p. 29. X T. S. Palmer, op. cit., p. 56. 



