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 



