280 Rece7it LiteratKre. 1 July 



Hornaday on the Destruction of our Birds and Mammals.' — In 

 this report Mr. Hornadaj has furnished us with a mass of information 

 relative to the destruction of our wild birds and mammals which should 

 demand the earnest consideration of every ornithologist and sportsman 

 throughout the country, and which cannot fail to prove an important 

 factor in encouraging Hie sentiment for bird protection which is beginning 

 to make itself apparent. 



The bird report is based upon replies from correspondents in all parts 

 of the country relative to the deb. -uction of birds, the most potent agencies 

 in effecting destruction, species 'which are becoming extinct, and the 

 number of birds to-day as compared wuh fifteen years ago. 



The most serious causes of the decrease of bird life seem to be : (i) the 

 great increase in sportsmen or rather "so-called sportsmen"; (2) pot 

 hunters; (3) plume hunters ; (4) egg collectors ; (5) English sparrow; (6) 

 clearing away of timber, and (7) Italians, who kill all sorts of birds for 

 food. 



The decrease of all kinds of game birds as evidenced by all the reports 

 is startling, as is also the growing tendency in the South to regard 

 various song and insectivorous birds as game, when the real game birds 

 become scarce. As Mr. Hornaday truly says, " the protection of migra- 

 tory birds must be general," we cannot protect our summer birds i'n the 

 North if they are to be shot in winter in the South. 



In regard to the destruction of bird life in general, the figures given by 

 Mr. Hornaday (Connecticut, 75% destroyed; New York, 48%; Indiana, 

 60%, etc.) will hardly be accepted by those who have had experience in 

 estimating the numbers of individual birds in the field. 



It is not possible to compare the birds of fifteen yearsago with those of 

 to-day and say with any degree of accuracy that the decrease is one-half 

 or two-thirds, relying solely on memory. As a matter of fact how many 

 of the persons quoted can state the number of birds breeding in a definite 

 area in their vicinity last year, not to speak of fifteen years ago.? It is one 

 thing to guess and quite another to make an accurate census, and without 

 definite figures we are practically stating the ratio between two unknowm 

 quantities which we can only compare in memory. 



So many things have to be taken into considei-ation in estimating the 



abundance of our small birds that it is exceedingly difficult to hazard a 



comparison even between two successive years unless a person has been 



constantly afield and is conversant with the vagaries of migration, etc. 



It is significant that scarcely any of the more prominent field orni- 



' The Destruction of our Birds and Mammals. By WiUiam T. Hornaday, 

 Director of the New York Zoological Park. Extracted from the Second 

 Annual Report of the New York Zoological Society, pp. 77-126, March 15, 

 1898. 



