TEXAS TESTIMONY ON THE CONTINUED 



DESTRUCTION OF VALUABLE BIRDS 



IN TEXAS 



Texas seems determined to retain the bad eminence here- 

 tofore accorded her of being a "dark and bloody ground" 

 for the slaughter of valuable birds. 



Attention is called to the following testimony contained 

 in an address delivered by Prof. H. P. Attwater of Hous- 

 ton, at the Texas Farmers Congress on July 18, 1919. It 

 appeared in the Houston Chronicle of July 19, under the 

 caption : 



DESTRUCTION OF BIRDS IS VAST INJURY TO FARM 



"This spring I visited one of my old collecting grounds 

 in Bexar County on the Madina River, south of San An- 

 tonio, and was deeply impressed with the noticeable scarc- 

 ity of bird life compared with former years. Where birds 

 of many kinds used to be found in great abundance at that 

 time of the year, with nests in almost every tree, and birds 

 heard singing in all directions, during my stay of two days 

 at the ranch there was a strange silence, and I only noticed 

 a few frightened mocking birds, red birds, doves and some 

 others, which appeared unusually shy. 



"Along the road several dead bullbats were observed 

 which had been shot from autos, simply for the pleasure 

 of seeing them fall. I was told that auto parties leave 

 the city in all directions, especially on Sundays, many of 

 them with one or more passengers, who practice target 

 shooting. My friends at the ranch said that the sound of 

 firing on some days was incessant, and that on one occa- 



