84 USEFUL BIRDS. 



vessels are employed in seining menhaden and other fish for 

 use in the manufacture of fertilizers. 



Notwithstanding the value of birds to man as destroyers 

 of insects and vermin, they are killed and utilized by him 

 in various ways. 



The destruction of game birds has been so great in Mas- 

 sachusetts, and the demand so much in excess of the supply, 

 that birds are now imported from other States and from 

 other countries. It is becoming a serious question, with 

 those most interested, how we shall so regulate the shooting 

 of game birds that the supply may be kept up. The game 

 birds of America have a great intrinsic value as game. The 

 flesh of many is considered to rank high among delicacies. 

 The pursuit of these birds has formed a large part of the 

 occupation of many members of the rural population during 

 the shooting seasons, and a vast business has grown out of 

 the traffic in birds' flesh. An enormous game business has 

 been carried on by provision dealers in this country, and the 

 demand for game is continually increasing. Few accurate 

 statistics of the amount of game sold are obtainable ; but 

 Mr. D. G. Elliot, writing in 1864, states that one dealer in 

 New York was known to receive twenty tons of Prairie 

 Chickens in one consignment, and that some of the larger 

 poultry dealers were estimated to have sold from one hun- 

 dred and fifty thousand to two hundred thousand game birds 

 in the course of six months.^ 



The killing of birds for sport has a certain economic affin- 

 ity with market hunting, in that it supports a large trade in 

 guns, ammunition, boats, dogs, and all the tools, appliances, 

 and impedimenta of the sportsman. It furnishes employment 

 to guides, dog breakers, and boatmen, and helps support 

 many country hostelries and seaside hotels. The manufac- 

 ture of firearms and ammunition for sportsmen has become 

 a great industry. Altogether, many thousands of men are 

 dependent for a part of their livelihood on the killing of 

 game for sport or food, while a still larger army finds its 

 chief outdoor recreation in the pursuit of game birds. The 



» Report of the United States Commissioner of Agriculture, 1864, pp. 383, 384. 



