196 WILD LIFE PROTECTION FUND 



Third: — The open season on them commences too early; 

 and I have repeatedly emphasized that fact to sportsmen 

 and to everyone within hearing, during numerous special 

 trips to Wyoming for Sage Chicken shooting and trout fish- 

 ing. At the same time, I have called attention to the fact 

 that on the same day we would shoot young birds that, ow- 

 ing to their size and flight, could hardly be distinguished 

 from the old birds, and could only settle our disputes upon 

 picking them up, by testing the flexibility of their beaks 

 and examining the density of the breast plumage ; and at the 

 same time we have seen flocks of young birds that were 

 little, if any, larger than quail, and barely able to get on to 

 wing; and on these trips I have seen many a game-hog 

 claiming to be a sportsman shoot any of these young birds 

 that could rise into the air. 



Fourth: — But not the least of these contributors toward 

 the extinction of this species, (and this I don't see how to 

 overcome) , is the fact that almost all the sage-brush coun- 

 try now owned by the Government is leased to cattle men 

 and sheep men, for grazing purposes, and their cattle, as 

 well as numerous flocks of thousands of sheep grazing over 

 the sage-brush range, trample out the nests and eggs, and 

 even young birds, during the nidification period. 



Realizing fully, from frequent experiences, all of the fore- 

 going, it seems to me that the saving of the Sage Hen will 

 be about the most difficult and uncertain task you have un- 

 dertaken; but / am in accord, with your idea of a closed 

 season, and assure you that I will not only vote for it, should 

 opportunity occur, but shall cheerfully and as vigorously as 

 possible, individually, whenever and wherever I see an open- 

 ing or opportunity to do so, express my views in favor of 

 the same." 



Wyoming : 



William L. Simpson, Attorney -at-Law, Cody. 



"Under present protection, I believe the Sage Hen will be 

 practically extinct in ten years. I was over a large portion 

 of the Shoshone Reservation this last year [1915], and saw 



only a few birds where there used to be thousands 



The great trouble is that female grouse are the greatest 

 sufferers from hunting, legal or otherwise. . . . Illegal hunt- 

 ing, from numerous sources, is the bane of the sage grouse. 

 Its distribution is over a country remote from settlements. 



