in South Carolina 35 



of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, for bulletin entitled, 

 'The English Sparrow as a Pest." 



The dog is reported as being one of the most potent 

 causes of the destruction of certain birds. This subject 

 will be discussed in connection with the reports concern- 

 ing the destruction done by dogs roaming at large during 

 the birds' breeding season. 



Doubtless more destruction than is realized is done by- 

 hogs to ground nesting birds. On this subject Mr. C. J. 

 Epps, Horry, says: ' 'Owing to no fence law, hogs destroy 

 many partridges, breaking up nests and eating young 

 ones." 



The Awful Destructiveness of Dogs. 



To the request for reports concerning the degree of 

 injury done by dogs roaming at large during the birds' 

 breeding season, 138 replies were received. Of these 8 

 correspondents report not knowing and 5 report no dam- 

 age in their localities. Mr. C. S. Saunders, Colleton, 

 writes: "None to my knowledge and I own 12 hounds and 

 2 bird dogs." 



Counties reporting the least destruction from this source 

 are: Colleton, Dorchester, Horry, Jasper, Georgetown, 

 and Oconee. All are on or near the coast except one. 



Forty respondents report damage ranging all the way 

 from "none hardly" (6), "not much" (18), to "notagreat 

 deal" (16) . The degree of injury estimated by the remain- 

 ing 85 ranged all the way from 20%, 50% and 75% to 

 "destruction of all nests and young found." Of this last 

 number many hesitated to make an estimate of percentage, 

 describing the destruction as "vast", "immense", "tre- 

 mendous", and "more than from any other source." 



In an estimate of the damage done by either cats or 

 dogs the personal element will enter largely. It is diffi- 

 cult for the owner of a cherished pet cat or a well beloved 

 dog to believe that the animal in question is destructive to 

 the nests and young of birds. But the evidence derived 

 from this investigation and from investigations conducted 

 by others in other parts of the country shows that the 



