CHAPTER II. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMIC ORNITHOLOGY. 



When Columbus was making that eventful voyage which 

 led to the discovery of the New World, he was cheered by 

 the sight of small birds that appeared beside his ship, telling 

 him of his approach to land. And ever since then these 

 children of the air have been of interest to the white people 

 who have come to America, as they had been for untold ages 

 before to the red men who roamed over the continent. The 

 early New England settlers were troubled by some birds 

 against which they declared war, and cheered by others to 

 which they extended the offerings of friendship. And even 

 in those early days there were some men who found in the 

 study of birds a source of delight to which they gladly gave 

 their time. It is nearly two centuries since Mark Catesby 

 wandered through the wilds of Florida and Carolina, seeking 

 out the birds and other animals of those unexplored regions, 

 the publication of his results having been begun in 1731. 

 Towards the end of the eighteenth century there were many 

 workers in the field, the most prominent being Bartram, 

 Latham, and Barton. And before the end of that century 

 Alexander Wilson came over from Scotland to begin those 

 pedler journeys during which he became interested in Ameri- 

 can birds. 



At the opening of the nineteenth century Wilson was greatly 

 interested in our bird life, and as early as 1808 began the 

 publication of his splendid volumes on American Ornithology. 

 As Dr. T. S. Palmer has well said, — in an admirable paper, 1 of 



1 A Review of Economic Ornithology, Yearbook, Dept. Agr., 1899, 

 pp. 259-292. 



2 17 



