478 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Number 



of Observers 



reporting. 



Sportsmen, or " so-called sportsmen," 

 Italians and other foreigners, . 

 Cutting off timljer and shruljbery, . 

 Market hunters, .... 

 Bird shooters and trappers, . . 



Egg collectors, boys and others, 

 Milliners'' hmiters, .... 

 Draining marshes and meadows, 

 Gnn clubs and hunting contests, 

 Telegraph, telephone and other wires, 

 Electric or trolley roads. 

 Railroads, ..... 

 Automobiles, . 

 Telejjhones, ..... 



82 

 70 

 62 

 57 

 32 

 32 

 18 

 17 

 16 



The man "behind the gun" is, of all men, the most 

 destructive to birds. The shooter, therefore, must head 

 the list. 



Sj)orfs7uen and Market Hunters. — Sportsmen and "so- 

 called sportsmen " are given the chief place as bird destroyers. 

 The number of observers who report them as such is con- 

 siderably in excess of those who name market hunters. 

 This is rather surprising, until we consider the increase in 

 the number of sportsmen in the past fifty years. 



Every city now has its gun club or sportsman's clul), and 

 so have some towns. The members practise to obtain pro- 

 ficiency in shooting on the wing. Even the boys have clubs 

 of their own, in some places, where they practise at trap- 

 shooting. Forty years ago there were comparatively few 



o;o()d wing; shots. 



Since the invention of the glass ball and 



