AMERICAN GAME BIRDS 



107 



general destruction of birds of prey and 

 of wild four-footed animals of whatever 

 name or nature. 



The contrary is true of that predatory 

 animal, the house cat. Never were house 

 cats more destructive of bird life than 

 now. While the annual loss of insectiv- 

 orous birds by them is far greater than 

 that of game birds, the loss of woodcock, 

 quail, grouse, and upland-breeding shore- 

 birds is by no means small. Taking into 

 account bird life in general, the cat is 

 undoubtedly the most destructive mam- 

 mal we have, and the aggregate number 

 of birds annually killed by them in the 

 United States is enormous. 



Of late years serious losses have been 

 reported among the ducks of certain lo- 

 calities in the West. The causes are yet 

 obscure, but they are probably not due to 

 epidemics, as commonly believed. They 

 will probably prove to be very local and 

 of comparatively modern origin, and to 

 be dependent on drainage contaminations 

 or unnatural crowding into unfavorable 

 feeding grounds. It is hence highly prob- 

 able that such losses can be eliminated 

 either in whole or in part. 



Before the coming of the whites, for- 

 est and prairie fires were due to lightning 

 or were purposely set by the Indians to 

 facilitate the pursuit of large game. 

 While they were no doubt common at 

 certain seasons and probably fatal to 

 many birds, they were too insignificant to 

 have played an important part in the re- 

 duction of numbers. 



FIREARMS THE CHIEF CAUSE OF DECREASE 



The destruction of former breeding 

 grounds through drainage and the general 

 advance of agriculture is a very impor- 

 tant cause of the diminution of certain 

 species. But while agriculture usurps 

 the breeding grounds of many kinds, es- 

 pecially ducks and geese, its effect in this 

 direction is to some extent lessened, since 

 it prepares the way for other species, like 

 the upland game birds, and furnishes 

 food and breeding grounds for them. 

 While these and other causes that might 

 be enumerated have tended to diminish 

 the numbers of game birds, even taken 

 collectively they have played only a minor 

 part in the great reduction of these birds 

 as a whole. 



It is the gun that has been the chief 

 cause of the destruction of our game, 

 large and small. Whatever weight may 

 be attached to other causes, these fade 

 into insignificance when compared with 

 the effect of firearms. 



It is nothing short of marvelous how 

 little time was required by the early pio- 

 neers, even with the crude firearms of the 

 time, to make an impression on the abun- 

 dance of American game. What the In- 

 dian with his bow and arrow and his rude 

 nets failed to do in thousands of years, 

 the handful of white men with powder 

 and shot accomplished in a few decades. 



Writing within 40 years after the first 

 settlement in New England, Josselyn 

 states that already the wild pigeon had 

 diminished greatly, "the English taking 

 them with nets'' ; and he adds that the 

 English and Indians, who by this time 

 were supplied with guns, had "destroyed 

 the breed of wild turkeys, so that even at 

 that early day it was very rare to meet 

 one in the woods." 



Thus two of our most important game 

 birds, in less than half a century after the 

 first settlements, had already begun to 

 disappear from the neighborhood of the 

 New England colonies. Nor is there 

 reason to believe that it was different 

 in other parts of the country. Game 

 abounded, was needed for food, the sup- 

 ply seemed inexhaustible, and it was shot 

 regardless of consequences, and at first, 

 no doubt, without thought of them. 



It is undoubtedly true that up to the 

 present time far more strenuous efforts 

 have been made in this country to destroy 

 game than to preserve it. Even to-day a 

 vastly greater number of individuals are 

 interested in game as something to kill 

 than as something which deserves pro- 

 tection. Clubs having for their chief ob- 

 ject the pursuit of game of all kinds have 

 existed since early days ; but organiza- 

 tions having for their chief object the 

 preservation of game are relatively few 

 in number and of comparatively recent 

 origin. 



AMERICA A SPORTSMAN'S PARADISE 



America has always been a paradise for 

 sportsmen, but of late years the number 

 of those whose chief relaxation is the 

 pursuit of game has greatly increased, 



