538 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



destroyed dozens of the nests of game birds and song- 

 birds, which are the farmer's best friends, since they 

 are ever-working unpaid police officers, destroying all 

 through the summer clays the insect enemies which 

 prey upon his crops. If the work of these insect-eating 

 birds were to be stopped for a week, or for a month, 

 the damage done to the crops of the United States 

 would be incalculably great. 



In certain sections o'f the South' an extremely de- 

 structive enemy of ground-nesting birds of all sorts is 

 the wild hog, which roams the forest, literally seeking 

 what he may devour. The number of nests and eggs 

 of turkeys, ruffled grouse and quail that these animals 

 searcti out and destroy is very great. Some States have 

 laws providing that hogs shall not be allowed to run 

 at large, but such States are exceptions. On the other 

 hand, it must be said that in States so thinly settled 

 that hogs and cattle are permitted to run wild, there 

 are comparatively few dogs and cats that roam the 

 fields and woods. 



Mr. Herbert Brown reported a few years ago that 

 previous to the introduction of ranch cattle the masked 

 quail was quite common in southern Arizona, but that 

 the cattle eating off and trampling down the tall grass 

 had so destroyed the breeding and hiding places of this 

 bird that it had practically disappeared from the United 

 States side of the line, and at latest reports this was 

 still the condition, as is seen by what he says on page 

 64. Under such adverse conditions, it is not strange 

 that our stock of splendid game birds grows smaller 



