OUR NATIVE BIRDS 



SECTION I 



ARE THE BIRDS DECREASING 



ABOUT a year ago Mr. William T. Hornaday com- 

 piled what might be termed the first bird census of 

 the United States. 1 He sent the following set of 

 questions to a number of persons in every state and 

 territory, excepting Alaska : 



1. Are birds decreasing in your locality ? 



2. About how many are there now in comparison 

 with the number fifteen years ago ? One-half as 

 many? one-third? one-fourth? 



3. What agency, or class of men, has been most 

 destructive to the birds of your locality? 



4. What important species of birds or quadrupeds 

 are becoming extinct in your state ? 



The answers received to those questions and the 

 conclusions drawn from them must, on the whole, be 

 accepted as trustworthy. The following states reported 



1 "The Destruction of our Birds and Mammals," by W. T. Horna- 

 day. In the "Second Report of the New York Zoological Society," 

 New York, 1898. Office of the Society, 69 Wall Street. The most 

 valuable document ever published on the subject. 

 B 1 



