38 CIVIC BIOLOGY 



of the class. Several species not now found in the territory 

 are included because they are related to problems which every 

 intelligent member of the nation ought to be helping to solve. 

 Order Pygopodes ("rump-footed'^) — diving birds. The birds 

 of this group enliven our waters, and the loons give us some 

 weird music. While anglers may object to sharmg the fish 

 with them, the mam question is whether we prefer to see 

 them on our ponds and lakes or on the ladies' hats. The two 

 common species within our territory are : 



Pied-billed grebe — Podilymhus pddiceps. 

 Loon ; great northern diver — Gdcia imber. 



Order Longipennes ("long-winged") — gulls, terns, etc. The 

 gulls and terns have required active protection in recent 

 years to prevent their extermination by the egglers and plume 

 hunters. AVhat would our seascapes be without them? The 

 protection which has been accorded these birds is one of the 

 most encouraging signs that values other than mercenary are 

 beginning to be appreciated. Aside from their beauty, these 

 birds are much-needed scavengers of our harbors and coasts, 

 and the inland species are most efficient destroyers of insects. 

 •Two common types are : 



Herring gull — Ldrus argentdtus. 

 Common tern — Sterna idrundo. 



Order Anseres (anser, "a goose") — ducks, geese, swans. The 

 problem of our waterfowl is nearmg its final stage. ^ The vast 

 breeding grounds in the Northwest are now open to sports- 

 men and settlers, and when the wild fowl have been extermi- 

 nated from these, as they have been from their more southern 

 ranges, the work of destruction will be complete and final. 

 It is high time this is appreciated as a national problem, and 

 effective measures taken toward its solution. The first step, 



1 See H. K. Job, Country Life in America, April, 1906. 



