io6 



The National Geographic Magazine 



Photo from Mrs Charles Shaffer 

 HUDSON BAY SABLE 

 One of the most valuable American fur bearers 



species of grouse and quail have been 

 decimated in many regions till only a 

 beggarly remnant remains, and even 

 ducks and geese, that with the changing 

 seasons once thronged our tidal waters 

 and waterways, have been so mercilessly 

 slaughtered that the future prospects of 

 more than one species looks dark. All 

 of our waders have been reduced in num- 

 bers and many are almost unknown 

 where formerly they used to cover the 

 sand and mud flats. Such facts suf- 

 ficiently ^empasize the need of game pro- 

 tection, and the study of ways and means 

 of preserving such of our game birds and 

 animals as still survive is regarded as one 



of the pressing duties of the Biological 

 Survey. 



We Americans did not at first welcome 

 the idea of close seasons, license systems,, 

 game refuges, game wardens, and the 

 other measures necessary for the protec- 

 tion of wild life. To our forefathers of 

 not long ago the privilege of killing game 

 when needed was an absolute necessity, 

 and we have been so long accustomed to 

 the idea that game is public property, to 

 be appropriated by the first comer, that 

 we do not take kindly to restrictions of 

 any sort. Nevertheless both the theory 

 and practice of game and bird protection 

 are now firmly rooted in this countrv. 



