over-abundant natural enemies and they must perish in the 

 Winter, when none of the natural foods remain in sight above 

 the snow. No birds need more immediate attention from the 

 sportsmen; no group of birds is more valuable from an economic 

 point of view than the grouse of the open country. In many 

 of the grouse states the state game officers are introducing 

 foreign game birds in large numbers and they seem to be aware 

 that the grouse can not be preserved on closely cultivated farms 

 as objects of public pursuit. Some intelligent state game officers, 

 I am pleased to observe, are prepared to urge breeders enact- 

 ments making it worth while to save these birds, and I recently 

 had a letter from a Western officer in which he said he would 

 favor the needed industry and would be glad to see syndicates 

 of sportsmen formed to save the grouse. 



As the matter now stands the shooting practically has ended 

 and most naturalists predict the extermination of these birds. 

 The country is so big (hundreds of times as big as the grouse 

 lands of the old world) that there is room enough for all American 

 sportsmen to have good grouse shooting for all time to come, 

 . provided we undertake the practical preservation of our grouse 

 before it is too late. 



The birds are being protected in some places, but it is evident 

 that only a few persons can be expected to engage in the needed 

 industry so long as the shooting and the sale of the game is 

 prohibited. Grouse multiply rapidly when the covers and 

 foods are preserved and their enemies are controlled and they 

 can be made more abundant than they ever were. 



