What Is Happening to the Animals and Birds 177 



kind except birds and the smaller animals, such as sc^uirrels. 

 Occasionally we may start up a deer that flees away from us 

 like the wind. Still more rarely we come upon a bear and 

 are fortunate if we get even the merest sight of him before 

 he is gone. 



. The fear of man has spread among all the wild creatures. 

 There is good reason for this fear, because man has com- 

 pletely exterminated some species and so reduced the num- 

 bers of others that careful protection will be needed to save 

 them. Travelers tell us that in those lands where man 

 rarely goes the wild creatures have little fear of him. 



The story of the slaughter of the buffalo is known to us 

 all. Once this noble animal roamed from the Alleghenies 

 to the Rocky Mountains. Countless thousands were killed 

 merely for their hides, and other thousands were killed for 

 sport. Finallyj when they were almost gone, people av/oke 

 to the importance of saving them. Several small herds, 

 not more than a few hundred in number, that had escaped 



/.. A. Uujfman, Miles Cily, Mont. 

 Why thebuUalo have nearly disappeared from the land. 



