96 ANIMAL BIOLOGY 



ner's agent. An Indianapolis taxidermist is on record with 

 the statement that in 1895 there were shipped from that city 

 5000 bird skins collected in the Ohio Valley. He adds that 

 ' no county in the state is free from the ornithological mur- 

 derer/ and prophesies that birds will soon become very scarce 

 in the state. 



" These isolated examples can only suggest the enormous 

 number of birds that are sacrificed on the altar of fashion. 

 The universal use of birds for millinery purposes bears suffi- 

 cient testimony to the fact. Yet it is probable that most 

 women who follow the fashion seldom appreciate the suffer- 

 ing and the economic losses that it involves." WEED and 

 DEARBORN, " Birds in their Relations to Man." 



78. Effects of bird destruction. While the aesthetic 

 loss to mankind resulting from the destruction of our wild 

 birds cannot, as we have said, be computed, yet even in the 

 cities this loss is beginning to be realized as we see the song 

 birds in the parks steadily diminishing in number. Every- 

 one, however, is affected by the increasing cost of our food 

 supply, and we have but to review the facts stated in the 

 preceding sections to show that the destruction of our wild 

 birds has a very important bearing on the present situa- 

 tion. 



Every farmer knows that it is impossible to raise the crops 

 of a single year without battling with insect pests. The 

 time and expense involved in applying insect-destroying 

 preparations would be difficult to compute, and even after 

 the. year's contest is ended, the insects are often victorious. 

 In ruthlessly destroying the wild birds man has interfered 

 with the " balance of nature" and so has helped the ravaging 

 hordes of insects and gnawing animals to multiply without 

 adequate check. All this means that we, the consumers of 



