Destruction by Man 63 



for men to make laws to force them to give up 

 a cruel practice. 



But it is not the plume-hunter alone who is 

 causing our remaining wild birds to disappear; 

 there are many other kinds of hunters. Of these 

 one of the worst is the so-called sportsman. I 

 use the word " so-called " to distinguish him from 

 the real sportsman who is one of the best pro- 

 tectors of birds we have. The real sportsman 

 is the man who is fond of the woods and fields, 

 and streams, and lakes, and who, when game 

 and fish are plentiful likes to get a little for him- 

 self or a friend, but who, when game shows signs 

 of decreasing, does his best in every way to pro- 

 tect it and insure its increase. The " so-called " 

 sportsman often seems to forget that anyone 

 else has an interest in the game; he sometimes 

 acts as though he owned it all, and proceeds to 

 take it all or as nearly all of it as he can get. 

 It never seems to occur to him that there is a 

 limit to the number of birds which it is fair for 

 him to shoot, even when they are plentiful, or 

 that he should refrain entirely from shooting 

 when they are scarce. He fights to prevent the 

 passage of any good law which may be framed 

 with a view to saving the sorely harassed birds, 

 if it in any way interferes with his own pleasure. 

 He shoots all the birds the law permits him to, 



