THE DISAPPEARANCE OF WILD LIFE 55 



Mr. Walter B. Barrow, scientific ornithologist of the U. S. 

 Biological Survey in an article on "Seed Planting by Birds" in 

 the Annual Report of the Secretary of Agriculture 1890, says : 



"Seeds eaten by seed eating birds, are eaten for the kernel or embyro 

 which they contain, and the grinding and digestion of this necessarily 

 destroys the seed. Many fruits and so-called berries on the other hand, 

 are eaten solely for the nourishing matter surrounding or attached to 

 the seeds, and in most cases the seed escapes destruction and is dropped 

 either by ejection or rejection at a distance from the parent plant. In 

 other words, seeds which simply contain nourishment are eaten and de- 

 stroyed, while seeds which are contained in nourishment are eaten and 

 survive. ' ' 



Other writers consider doves of no use or value and not en- 

 titled to protection at any time. In their opinion it would not 

 matter if they went the way the wild pigeon went. Others claim 

 that they are so numerous, that they are in no danger of every 

 becoming extinct. The same argument was used fifty years ago 

 in regard to the wild pigeons. It is said that the best way of 

 judging the future is by the past. In this connection I desire to 

 call particular attention to the following report of a select com- 

 mitte of the Senate of Ohio in 1857, on a bill proposed to protect 

 the passenger pigeon : 



"The passenger pigeon needs no protection. Wonderfully prolific, 

 having the vast forests of the North as its breeding grounds, traveling 

 hundreds of miles in search of food, it is here today and elsewhere 

 tomorrow, and no ordinary destruction can lessen them or cause them to 

 be missed from the myriads that are yearly produced. ' ' 



The last passenger pigeon died at the Zoological Garden in 

 Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 1st, 1914, the last of a race of 

 countless millions, and with it a beautiful and economically valu- 

 able bird vanished forever from the face of the earth. 



Many of the best sportsmen who are in favor of reasonable 

 protection, with a view of preserving this valuable little game 

 bird and preventing its extermination, are not in favor of com- 

 mencing dove shooting in September, for the reason that doves 

 are not through with their nesting season at that time of the year. 

 In some parts of this State doves nest all through July and 

 August, their eggs are frequently found in September and occas- 

 ionally as late as the middle of October. 



As already stated the new dove law went into effect in the fall 

 of last year (1915) and numerous newspaper reports from all 

 over the State, with information from other sources, show that 

 besides sportsmen, a great host of irresponsible men and careless 

 boys, started out on September 1st to kill doves. Hunting parties 



