3o8 



NATURE 



[July 28, 



THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BIRDS AND 

 MAMMALS OF THE UNITED STATES} 

 TN the course of the correspondence of the New York Zoo- 

 ■'■ logical Society with hunters and collectors regarding a future 

 supply of American mammals and birds with which to stock 

 the Zoological Park, the extent of the disappearance of our 

 vertebrate fauna, as a whole, has become painfully evident. It 

 seems that the war of annihilation, now going on with great 

 activity against all our wild creatures, indiscriminately, is far 

 more universal and far more fatal in its effects than people are 

 aware. 



In order either to verify or disprove what appeared to be the 

 existing facts, and to discover possible remedies for existing 

 evils, the Society resolved to make a brief but pointed inquiry 

 into conditions affecting bird life as they exist to-day throughout 

 the United States. 



The prime object of this inquiry, and the report on its results, 

 is to call universal attention to the fact that the whole volume 

 of bird and mammal life in the United States is decreasing at an 

 alarming rate. 



In seeking a method by which the extent of bird destruction 

 — or preservation— might be reduced to figures and averages, it 

 seemed entirely possible for any person who is specially inter- 

 ested in birds, and who has lived for several years in a given 

 locahty, to make and furnish a general estimate as to the abund- 

 ance of bird life about him to-day in comparison with what it 

 was ten or fifteen years ago. Accordingly the following ques- 

 tions were prepared, and addressed to persons competent to 

 answer them : 



(i) Are birds decreasing in number 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 ? 



In each state and territory several observers were addressed, 

 and an effort was made to cover the various sections of each 

 large state. Had every addressee responded with a report the 

 results would have been more voluminous, but it is doubtful if 

 the figures given herein would have been greatly changed. 

 While the majority of the persons addressed were ornithologists, 

 and associate members of the American Ornithologists' Union, 

 the list of observers was purposely made to include many 

 well-known sportsmen, guides, collectors of animals, and 

 taxidermists. 



The fact that the inquiry was intended as a step in the 

 direction of preservation awakened keen interest, and brought 

 forth reports from nearly two hundred observers, representing all 

 states and territories in the United States, except three. Fully 

 90 per cent, of the reports bear unmistakable evidence of having 

 been prepared with conscientious thought and care. Many are 

 very full, and particularly valuable by reason of their wealth of 

 detail. The closeness with which the estimates of different 

 observers in a given state or region agree with each other is 

 ■quite surprising, and this may justly be regarded as evidence of 

 their scientific value. 



Destructive Agencies now in Operation. 

 If the reports before us are true, the boys of America are the 

 ■chief destroyers of our passerine birds, and other small non- 

 ■edible birds generally. The majority of them shoot the birds, a 

 great many devote their energies to gathering eggs, and some do 

 both. Wherever there are herons who bear the fatal gift of 

 •' plumes," there will the plume-hunter be found, hard at work. 

 Every now and then the newspapers and sportsmen's magazines 

 record sickening details of the slaughter of gulls, terns, doves, or 

 ducks; of brutal "side" hunts; of enormous catches of trout, 

 bass, or other game fishes. It is estimated that during last 

 autumn's hunting season, three thousand hunters entered the 

 Maine forests in quest of deer, moose and caribou. Not taking 

 into account what they killed and ate while in camp, they 

 'brought out 2640 deer, 102 moose, and 53 caribou ; and con- 

 cerning the ability of those three species to survive the attacks 

 •of the army of riflemen that annually sweeps through the 

 forests of Maine, Mr. Caton, State Game Warden of Maine, 



1 Abridged from a report on the results of an inquiry, contained in the 

 Second Annual Report of the New York Zoological Society, by William 

 T. Hornaday. 



NO. 1500, VOL. 58] 



has expressed the opinion that it is only a question of a very 

 short time when the moose and caribou will all have dis- 

 appeared from the hunting grounds of Maine. It has been 

 estimated that during the past season 7500 deer were killed in 

 that state. 



Of the series of one hundred and ninety reports now before 

 us, about 80 per cent, declare a decrease in bird life, and state 

 the causes therefor. The list of destructive agencies now 

 operating against our birds is a long one, and it is interesting 

 to note the number of observers who complain of each. The 

 figures given below show the number of observers who have 

 reported each of these various causes in answer to the third 

 question in the list. 



Causes of Decrease in Bird Life. 



Reports. 



1. Sportsmen, and "so-called sportsmen" ... 54 



2. Boys who shoot 42 



3. Market-hunters and " pot-hunters" 26 



4. Plume hunters, and milliners' hunters... ... 32 



5. " Shooters, generally " 21 



6. Egg-collecting, chiefly by small boys ... ... 20 



7. English sparrow ... ... ... ... ... 18 



8. Clearing off timber, development of towns and 



cities 31 



9. Italians, and others, who devour song birds ... 12 



10. Cheap firearms 5 



11. Drainage of marshes 5 



12. Non-enforcement of laws ... ... ... 5 



13. Gun clubs and hunting contests 5 



14. Trapping birds for sale alive ... ... ... 2 



15. Prospectors, miners and range-riders 2 



16. Collectors (ornithologists and taxidermists) ... 5 



17. Coloured population ... ... ... ... 4 



18. Indians (for decrease of game quadrupeds) ... 4 



Slaughter of all Edible Birds. 



In the absence of deer, elk, bear and other large mammals, 

 the well-nigh universal desire to range afield and " kill some- 

 thing," expends itself upon the so-called "game" birds. 

 Thousands of usually conscientious sportsmen and farmers find 

 an excuse for killing the last grouse, duck or snipe in their 

 locality in the fact that the bird is a "game bird," i.e. fit for 

 food, and therefore deserving of death before the gun. 



The list of North American birds universally classified by 

 gunners and others under the general head of "game birds" 

 is not only very large, but is constantly being increased. To- 

 day it stands about as follows, for the United States alone : — 



Species. 



Gallinaceous birds — pheasants, grouse, part- 

 ridges, quail, &c. ... about 33 



Pigeons and doves ,, 12 



Shore birds— snipes, sandpipers, curlews, &c. ,, 47 



Anseres— ducks, geese, swans ,, 43 



Rails „ 9 



Cranes, herons, egrets, ibises and other large 

 birds always shot on sight, for their plum- 

 age or for other reasons ,, 10 



154 

 Destruction of Birds for Millinery Purposes. 



One of the strangest anomalies of modern civilisation is the 

 spectacle of modern woman — the refined and the tender-hearted, 

 the merciful and compassionate — suddenly transformed into a 

 creature heedlessly destructive of bird life, and in practice as 

 bloodthirsty as the most sanguinary birds of prey. 



After having stripped our Atlantic coast, the whole of Florida 

 and the Gulf coast of egrets, terns, and hundreds of thousands 

 of other birds acceptable to the milliners for hat trimmings, the 

 " plume hunters" are now at work along the coast of Mexico 

 and Central America, Lower California, and even upon the 

 headwaters of the Orinoco and Amazon. Quite recently, two of 

 them risked their lives with the Indians on Tiburon Island, Gulf 

 of California, and lost their stake ! 



The Scourge of Egg-Collectors., 



Throughout the north-eastern quarter of the United States, 

 extending as far westward as the Mississippi River and as far 

 south as Virginia, bird life generally is persecuted by a perfect 

 scourge of egg-collectors, largely in the name of science, but 

 really for purposes of mere curiosity or trade. In the reports 



