3 3 



The Hawkeye Ornithologist and Oologist. 



boxes of bird skins in our millinery 

 establishments will find the vast ma- 

 jority of exotic forms, as I have 

 already noted. The ultimate influ- 

 ence of the destruction of birds, then, 

 must be estimated by the number of 

 birds in the whole country. Now, 

 unfortunately for our purpose, we 

 have no reliable census of American 

 birds, as applied to individuals, but, 

 following the example of Mr. Allen, 

 we may estimate that the 15,000,000 

 square miles comprised in North and 

 South America and the West India 

 Islands will average at least 200 birds 

 to the square mile, (and I think my 

 ornithological friends that are pres- 

 ent will agree with me that this is an 

 exceedingly moderate estimate.) 



"According to our estimate, then, 

 we would have a bird population in 

 the Americas of 3,000,000,000— that 

 this is not an excessive estimate is 

 evidenced by the fact that Alexander 

 Wilson computed the number of pig- 

 eons alone in a single flight at over 

 2,000,000,000 or 1,500,000,000 pairs. 

 Now, another very moderate estimate 

 would allow at least two birds to 

 each pair for natural increase- so that 

 3,000,000,000 birds must be destroyed 

 annually, by all causes, in order that 

 the bird fauna shall remain at its 

 present proportions; in other words, 

 until that number are destroyed 

 there will be no decrease in numbers. 

 Now, the proportion destroyed for 

 millinery purposes taken at Mr. 

 Allen's estimate of 5,000,000, and al- 

 lowing another 5,000,000 for South 

 America, Canada, Mexico," and the 

 West Indies, would be as 10 to 3,000, 

 or as 1 to 300; the other 299 meeting 

 their death from other causes. In 

 other words, a death mortality rate 

 of 3£ per 1,000, while a rate of 20 to 

 25 per 1,000 in the human species ex- 

 cites no comment whatever. 



"The actual rate in the birds is 

 manifestly much less than that above 



stated, since a section of the eountry 

 with only 200 birds to the square mile 

 would probably be the rare exception 

 rather than a frequent occurrence. 

 Be it noted, furthermore, that the 

 constant demand for novelty to which 

 fashions are due prohibits a continu- 

 ance of even this low mortality rate 

 for many years in succession. 



"Figures aside, however, it is a 

 self-evident fact, that all species of 

 animals and plants require checks to 

 their maximum rate of increase. 

 (The human population of the Uni- 

 ted States, at the ordinary rate of 

 increase, would number four to every 

 square yard of the earth's surface in 

 less than TOO years.) 



"Now, of the many natural checks 

 upon the increase of birds, some are 

 removed by civilization, others are 

 increased. Then, again, there is even 

 a higher factor that governs the in- 

 crease or decrease of different species 

 — which is unknown to us except by 

 its effects, namely, the inherent ca- 

 pacity of the species itself to increase. 

 As an instance of the disappearance 

 of a species without known cause we 

 have the case of our own paroquet, a 

 bird abundant in large flocks through- 

 out the Ohio Valley in the first quar- 

 ter of the century, noted by Audubon 

 in 1831, as rapidly diminishing in 

 numbers;"by Kirtland and others, in 

 1838. as only met with irregularly, 

 and as straggling flocks. While we 

 have no recorded date of their ap- 

 pearance in this State between 1840 

 and 1862, when a single flock of strag- 

 glers were noted in Columbus. 

 Throughout their range we have the 

 same accounts of constantly dimin- 

 ishing numbers, as we had before the 

 days of bird wearers, taxidermists, or 

 pot hunters, or ornithological collec- 

 tors in the West. In accordance 

 with this capacity some species are 

 to-day increasing, while others are 

 dying out, much as they did in for- 



