HISTORY OF ATTEMPTS TO INTRODUCE NON-NATIVE 

 GAME BIRDS INTO CALIFORNIA 



Even before our native game birds had become so far reduced 

 in numbers as to alarm greatly those most interested in their mainten- 

 ance, attempts were made to introduce species from other states and 

 countries. This was done for a variety of reasons. Some persons 

 believed that by increasing the number of kinds of game birds we 

 could increase the total number of individuals; others thought that 

 foreign species would prove more prolific than our native kinds; and 

 some hoped that species "bigger and finer" than any of our native 

 ones could somehow become established here. But the proponents of 

 these several hypotheses were all doomed to disappointment. The 

 faulty reasoning which underlay these notions will be demonstrated 

 later. First let us review the history of the introduction of alien birds 

 into California. 



The first attempts to introduce foreign birds into the United 

 States were made more than a hundred years ago. Since that time, 

 and for one reason and another, efforts to establish exotic species in 

 this country have been numerous. A brief review of some of these 

 attempts shows that there is great contrast in the results obtained 

 in different places. On the one hand stands Oregon 's' extraordinary 

 success with the Ring-necked Pheasant, a success which has stimulated 

 interest in acclimatization throughout the United States ; on the other 

 hand we find many failures. For example, Illinois has spent many 

 thousands of dollars in an almost wholly futile attempt to stock the 

 state with pheasants. Between these two extremes there have been 

 all degrees of success and failure. 



Neither the large expenditure involved, the danger attendant upon 

 the introduction of a species which might later prove undesirable (as 

 did the English Sparrow), the possibility of replacement of a native 

 species by a foreign one, nor the possible introduction of diseases fatal 

 to our native game, seems in any way to have halted the mad rush 

 to introduce and attempt to establish foreign game birds. State after 

 state has carried on haphazard and poorly managed experiments, in 

 most instances without paying any attention to the experiences of 

 other states. Few seem to have codified the knowledge concerning 

 acclimatization as it applies to game birds, and those who have done 

 so have found the effort an exceedingly difficult one because of the 

 incompleteness and unsatisfactory nature of the records. 



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