THE DISAPPEARANCE OF WILD LIFE 



state to kill off the gulls, pelicans and other sea-birds for the 

 sake of protecting the fishing industry. 



In regard to the gulls, the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture has recently issued an appeal for their protection and 

 states that sea-gulls perform important work as scavengers, pre- 

 ferring as food, dead fish, garbage and offal of various sorts 

 that collect along the coast, and that the gulls which frequent 

 the inland waters at certain seasons of the year, render equally 

 important services, their food being found to be almost ex- 

 clusively insectivorous. In the spring and summer months, hun- 

 dreds of gulls which wintered in the South follow the plowmen 

 in Wisconsin, the Dakotas and other States, destroying immense 

 quantities of insects and their larvae uncovered by the plow. 



In 1907-1908 during a serious outbreak of field mice in Nevada 

 hundreds of gulls (which are extremely fond of small rodents) 

 appeared and very materially aided the farmers in their efforts 

 to get rid of the mice. 



In 1848-1849 and 1850 millions of crickets swept over the fields 

 of Utah and threatened to bring famine to the settlers there. 

 Then along came large flocks of gulls which stayed and feasted 

 on the crickets until they were entirely destroyed. The grateful 

 citizens called it a miracle and in recognition of the services of 

 these gulls erected a monument which stands in Salt Lake City 

 today, surmounted by bronze figures of two gulls, to serve as a 

 constant reminder of the substantial debt the people owe to these 

 birds. 



As regards removing protection from buzzards, pelicans, gulls, 

 eagles, doves and other birds which are accused of committing 

 depredations, justice, commonsense and fair play demand that be- 

 fore they are placed on the black list and their slaughter legalized 

 and commenced, the case of these poor dumb creatures should at 

 least receive careful consideration ; and before condemning them, 

 it will be well to remember that there is no recovery for an ex- 

 tinct species. We can replant the forests, conserve the minerals, 

 restock the streams with fish, reclaim the swamps and deserts, 

 but a bird or animal once gone, is gone forever. 



It will also be well to remember that in several States and 

 foreign countries where false impressions have prevailed and 

 birds have been legally destroyed through ignorance, disastrous 

 to agriculture have followed. 



During the French revolution and in other times and countries 

 when the scarcity of food was a serious problem, the population 



