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. Anenormous 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, 
andimpedimenta 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. 
