THE PRACTICAL VALUE OF BIRDS. 21 



The 10 tons of ptarmigan wings contained in one shipment from Russia, 

 mentioned in Englehardt's "Russian Province of the North," has been so often 

 referred to in popular ornithological literature that it is almost a shame to 

 mention it again. 



Less than 4 years ago 15 Japanese subjects were arrested by the United 

 State Revenue Cutter Thetis for poaching on Laysan, in the Hawaiian Islands. 

 They had in their possession about 119,000 bird wings, and had previously 

 shipped 128,000. Eight more arrested on Lisiansky had about 140,000 wings 

 and had shipped about 108,000 (52). 



If all the cats could be locked up during the time when young birds are 

 leaving the nests, it would immediately result in a large increase in the 

 number of insectivorous birds. Forbush estimated that cats destroy 

 1,500,000 birds in New England annually, while Fisher estimated it *.t 

 3,500,000 for New York alone. Certain it is that in the towns and cities they 

 succeed in capturing a very large proportion of the young birds. The case 

 of the small boy with a cheap rifle and a natural propensity for killing and for 

 collecting eggs, needs some attention. That is largely a matter of education, 

 and can best be taken care of by teaching the boys the value of birds and 

 the necessity of their protection. 



The early bird laws in the United States provided for the destruction 

 of certain birds by the payment of bounties. Now the great majority of the 

 states have passed the A. O. U. law (drafted by the American Ornithlogists' 

 Union) or one similar to it, which provides for the protection of all non- 

 game birds except a few designated species which may be considered harm- 

 ful (53). The Colorado law (54), for example, protects all except the English 

 sparrow, sharp-shinned hawk, Cooper's hawk, goshawk, duck hawk, great 

 horned owl, pinyon jay, magpie, bluejay and eagles. Just what is meant by 

 bluejay has not been determined. The bird known to ornithologists by that 

 name is very rare in Colorado and confined to the eastern part of the state. 

 Possibly the law-makers intended to designate by that name the long-crested 

 jay, which is a very different bird. 



The McLean law, just passed by Congress, places all migratory birds 

 under the jurisdiction of the United States, and gives the Department of 

 Agriculture power to regulate the hunting of them. 



SYSTEMATIC DISCUSSION 



PYGOPODES- Grebes, Loons, Auks, Etc. (Diving Birds). 



These birds are for the most part not of economic importance except in 

 isolated localities, and their habits have not been closely studied. Only the 

 grebes and loons visit our region. 



Auklets and young murres are said to live largely upon crustaceans, but 



(52) Army and Navy Register, Feb. 19, 1910, quoted at length in The Auk, Vol. 

 XXVII, pp. 243-244, 1910. 



(53) Palmer, T. S., Extermination of Noxious Animals by Bounties, U. S. Dept. 

 Agric., Yearbook for 1896, pp. 55-68 ; Legislation for the Protection of Birds Other 

 than Game Birds, U. S. Biol. Surv., Bull. 12, 1900 (Revised edition 1902). Lantz, D. E., 

 Bounty Laws in Force in the United States, July 1, 1907, Yearbook for 1907, pp. 560- 

 565. Oldys, Henry, et al.. Game Laws for 1910, Farmers' Bull. No. 418, 1910 (this 

 supersedes bulletins for preceding years). 



(54) Laws of 1903, Colorado, pp. 227-229. 



