Birds and the Fruit-Farm 293 



Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, California, Maine, 

 Minnesota, — ^in ever>^ nook and comer of our 

 coiintry. Bird-protection is not merely a local 

 but a universal need. A fruit-grower may live 

 near the northern edge of the country. All the 

 way southward the birds are remorselessly and 

 wantonly destroyed the whole year through. 

 Practically, people living at the North get only 

 whatever birds escape our neighbors at the South. 

 In Tennessee millions of insectivorous birds, es- 

 pecially robins, are killed for fun and for food 

 during the time of their migration — February and 

 March. The wild pigeon, once best known of 

 migratory birds, has become extinct through 

 wanton destruction, yet there are thousands of men 

 now living who can remember when the sky would 

 be darkened by immense flocks of these birds in 

 flight to or from their breeding-grounds. Alexan- 

 der Wilson computed that one flock of these pigeons 

 which he saw passing over Indiana contained 

 2,230,272,000 birds! This was two generations 

 ago. On September 14, 1908, the last wild speci- 

 men was taken near Detroit, *Hhe last that ever 

 will reach the hands of man,'* for not one bird of 

 this species is now in existence. Yet, some years 

 after Wilson recorded his observations, the Legis- 

 lature of Ohio refused to pass any law protecting 

 the passenger pigeon on the plea that the birds 

 were so nimierous they covdd not decrease, much 

 less become extinct. To-day we must add to the 

 rapidly increasing list of extinct species of useful 



