THE EXTERMINATION OF AMERICA'S BIRD FAUNA. 9 



thousand feet above the Earth. It would be collected, 

 — t h a t's all! 



This is what is going on right now. The plume and feather 

 collectors all over the world reduce a species to the very door 

 of extermination, after which that species "does not pay to 

 hunt;" then the collector, finding that the bird is about to 

 disappear forever, steps in and rakes in the rest for museums 

 or private collections, — each collector justifying himself by 

 saying: if I do not collect it, some one else will. How long 

 does any one suppose our Wood ducks will last, when certain 

 of its feathers are now being advertised for at twentyfive cents 

 apiece ? 



It required a great many thousand years for birds to be- 

 come completely differentiated from their reptilian stock; when 

 they did, they passed on to great perfection, — in most instances 

 to extreme beauty, to marvelously refined structure and song, 

 and — unfortunately for them in only too many instances — to 

 great delicacy of flesh. All of these factors will result in their 

 destruction. There are less than 15 000 different species in the 

 world's avifauna; and, from what I have pointed out above, I 

 am of the firm conviction that there is no saving them. To me, 

 it is a horrible thing to think of, — a birdless world! 



